MAS launches digital money blueprint, plans to develop wholesale CBDC in 2024

Photo credit: Shutterstock

The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) has published its guidelines to help create a safer and more innovative digital currency landscape in the city-state.

The guidelines include a blueprint that details the tech infrastructure required to facilitate digital money transactions. It will be used for services that involve wholesale central bank digital currencies (CBDCs), tokenized bank liabilities, and stablecoins – forms of digital money that MAS promotes.

The said infrastructure includes a settlement ledger for recording digital money transfers and a tokenization bridge to connect existing accounts with ledgers compatible with tokenized money.

In a statement, MAS said that the blueprint was created based on the results from Project Orchid‘s industry trials conducted since last year.

The blueprint also involves protocols on purpose-bound money, as well as methods for translating wallet addresses – which are typically jumbled letters and numbers – to be more readable for verification.

Additionally, the regulator will begin developing a CBDC for wholesale interbank settlement in 2024. In the first pilot, MAS will use a “live” wholesale CBDC to settle retail payments between commercial banks, while later tests will explore cross-border securities trading.

“The issuance of wholesale CBDC reinforces the role that central bank money plays in facilitating safe and efficient payments,” said Ravi Menon, managing director of MAS.

See also: Rebuilding trust in crypto: Cobo seeks to revamp digital asset storage