Singaporean monetary institutions are known for their efficacy. The state’s public policy is seen as a blueprint to other fundamental systems round the world. The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) has also taken the lead of the investigation regarding the potentials of distributed ledger technology in relation to banking and finance software.

MAS partnered with a range of financial institutions and venture blockchain technology organizations to make Project Ubin. It implemented real-time gross settlement (RTGS) systems with complete transaction privacy and settlement finality while avoiding single points of failure. Project Ubin efficiently reimagined institutional infrastructure in Singapore by implementing blockchain platforms.

By experimenting with technology that aims to improve transparency and enhance efficiencies, MAS indicates that it is prepared to future-proof its recognized procedures. MAS has established a multi-phase practice in partnership with a consortium of international banks, dispersed ledger technology, and blockchain providers.

“DLT has shown potential in making financial transactions and processes more transparent, resilient, and at a lower cost. The project aims to help MAS and the industry better understand the technology and the potential benefits it may bring through practical experimentation. This is with the eventual goal of developing simpler to use and more efficient alternatives to today’s systems based on digital central bank issued tokens.” – The Monetary Authority of Singapore

Together, they demonstrated how the tokenised Singaporean dollar may be a method for everyday inter-bank settlement. The goal was to enhance how trades are settled compared to the present system, where they’re queued and occasionally netted. The project determined the programs tested could function as foundations for distributed ledger-based RTGS systems.

At the conclusion of Stage 2, MAS supplied open-source access to this code and supporting information from the practice.

Having demonstrated that blockchain technology functions for interbank settlement, Project Ubin proceeded on to interconnecting blockchain networks.

Stage 3 (Delivery-versus-Payment) was a project with SGX on growing capacities for simultaneous transactions and final settlement of tokenised electronic currencies and securities resources on various blockchain platforms. The capability to carry out these tasks concurrently improves operational efficiency and reduces settlement dangers.

Stage 4 (Payment-versus-Payment) appears at linking up blockchain payment systems for cross-border payments. Stage 4 began as a cooperation with Bank of Canada and Bank of England on a tech-agnostic overview of present obligations versions and new alternative versions that could improve cross-border settlements and payments. It then continued as a technical experiment to join the experimental national payment systems of Ubin and Jasper by Bank of Canada, for cross-border payments. The project demonstrated the capability to join both networks and permit Payment-versus-Payment (PvP) settlement with no necessity for a reliable third party to serve as an intermediary.

The project is now into its fifth stage – Stage V. This stage concentrates on creating the version of the multi-currency payment, among those other models described in Stage 4, with the intention of business testing with commercial uses. This stage requires a step past technical experimentation, researching and understanding the wider ecosystem advantages of empowering business opportunities which were previously impossible or not cost-effective. The Phase V network will offer connectivity ports for additional DLT networks to join and integrate easily, providing added features to encourage use-cases like DvP together with trades, programmatic escrow, and conditional obligations for Trade and Trade Finance.