• The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) has collaborated with the IMF, Banca d’Italia and the Bank of Korea to develop a whitepaper concerning central bank digital currencies (CBDCs).
• Amazon, FAZZ and Grab are piloting an escrow arrangement for online retail payments, while DBS is trialing similar programs.
• The potential digital asset ecosystem proposed in the whitepaper could facilitate efficient transactions, enhance financial inclusion and unlock economic value.
Monetary Authority of Singapore Publishes Whitepaper on CBDCs
The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS), in collaboration with the International Monetary Fund (IMF), Banca d’Italia and the Bank of Korea, has published a whitepaper that proposes conditions for the use of central bank digital currencies (CBDCs), tokenized bank deposits and stablecoins. The paper includes software prototypes that demonstrate a concept called Purpose Bound Money (PBM), which enables senders to specify conditions when making transfers in digital money across different systems.
Pilot Programs Involving Amazon, DBS & Others
Amazon, FAZZ, Grab and DBS are all participating in pilot programs related to PBM. Amazon is involved in a pilot use case involving escrow arrangements for online retail payments; meanwhile DBS is trialing similar programs as well. The PBM protocol aims to work with different ledger technologies and forms of money so users can access digital money using their wallet provider of choice without needing customization.
What Does Project Orchid Aim To Achieve?
Project Orchid was launched by MAS as an exploratory initiative to examine possible design and technical aspects for a potential CBDC system in Singapore. According to the whitepaper , the new future digital asset ecosystem could be mainly comprised to CBDCs, tokenized bank liabilities and stablecoins – potentially facilitating more efficient transactions, enhancing financial inclusion while unlocking economic value.
How Could These New Forms Of Digital Monies Work?
The researchers explain that this new form of digital monies would work through smart contracts – enabling users to transfer assets between one another without needing customization from their wallet providers. Although these initial trials demonstrate potential applications for this technology, further testing will need to take place before it can be safely deployed on a wider scale.