Singapore’s Monetary Authority to Expand Wholesale CBDC Pilots
Singapore’s central bank, The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) has unveiled plans to start live Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) wholesale pilots and efforts to expand the framework.
On Nov 16, the financial authority released plans for a safe an innovative use of digital money in the country highlighting key areas including rolling out a blueprint for its infrastructural goals.
The industry release centered on three broad aspects including expanding digital currency trials through wholesale markets, the aforementioned blueprint on the infrastructure to host the digital Singapore dollar, and a live CBDC wholesale trial.
Generally, the bank recognizes wholesale CBDCs, regulated stablecoins, and tokenized bank liabilities as digital currencies under the framework.
According to the release, MAS seeks to drive growing anticipation in the sector by introducing retail and larger investors to its wholesale CBDC. Although officially kicking off next year, it will develop interbank settlement systems to promote the live test of the digital currency.
“The first pilot will involve the use of “live” wholesale CBDC to settle retail payments between commercial banks. Future pilots could include the use of “live” wholesale CBDC for the settlement of cross-border securities trade.”
The financial regulator has said the technology that would enable digital money transactions in the country will be built on Project Orchid. It will introduce a settlement ledger for record transfers and the registration and programmability of tokens.
Other touted components include a tokenization bridge, name service, and the programmability protocol. The bridge connects accounts created with several ledgers making all forms of digital money interoperable
Read more on cryptonews.com
