The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) has started working with financial institutions in the country to expand its tokenization objectives. In a Thursday press release, the regulatory agency reiterated its plan to develop foundational capabilities to scale tokenized assets through its Project Guardian. With this, MAS aims to grow the popularity and institutional adoption of digital assets.
Meanwhile, the regulatory agency is optimistic the efforts will help to free up liquidity, unlock numerous investment opportunities and increase efficiency of financial markets. Meanwhile, its Project Guardian’s group, comprising 17 financial firms has jointly executed five pilots to explore the possible use cases of asset tokenization. This effort is geared towards integrating the capital markets eg listing, distribution, trading, asset servicing, and many more.
MAS has also collaborated with international policymakers and FIs like BNY Mellon, DBS, JP Morgan, and more to explore the capacity of an infrastructure hosting tokenized assets. This initiative is identified as Global Layer One. According to the press statement, the initiative helps to facilitating easy cross-border transactions.
Also, it allows trading of tokenized assets on liquidity pools in line with regulatory standards. By featuring public and private stakeholders in the project, MAS aims to ensure that infrastructures hosting tokenized assets align with international guidelines.
That’s not all. MAS’ collaboration with stakeholders in the financial industry has also birthed the development of an Interlinked Network Model (INM). This project runs as a framework for trading digital currencies across networks. Aside from that, it also helps financial institutions to transact with one another without being on the same network. According to MAS, a white paper which explains the application of INM has been published. The document came into light through its joint collaboration with FinTechs and industry groups.
MAS invests $150 million in technological innovation
In August, MAS announced a $150 million investments in blockchain to build a strong technology market. According to Binbits, the funding will run under its Financial Sector Technology and Innovation (FSTI 3.0) scheme for three consecutive years.
Don’t forget that the agency has earlier implemented its FSTI 1.0 and FSTI 2.0 initiatives before launching FSTI 3.0. Through these schemes, MAS also wants to strengthen the digital capacity of financial institutions in Singapore.
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