MAS Singapore Proposes Digital Money Standards with Leading Industry Players

MAS Proposes Shared Protocol for Digital Currencies

The MAS (Monetary Authority of Singapore) has put forward a proposition for a shared protocol that would outline the rules for utilizing different kinds of digital currencies.

On June 21, the MAS released a white paper that detailed the technical specifications of its new Purpose Bound Money (PBM) concept, as well as the names of the financial institutions and fintech companies that intend to trial it.

PBM intends to allow those who send digital currencies, such as CBDCs or stablecoins, to designate conditions for their digital currency transactions, including a timeframe and types of merchants.

Sopnendu Mohanty, the Chief Fintech Officer of the Monetary Authority of Singapore, remarked that these recent developments have increased the part digital currencies will play in the future financial environment.

The International Monetary Fund, Banca d’Italia, Bank of Korea, and other financial institutions collaborated in the development of the paper. Amazon, DBS, and Grab are among the fintech companies that are running a trial of PBM.

Financial Institutions and Fintech Companies Trial PBM

Amazon is specifically testing out escrow-style arrangements for online retail payments, which would mean that the merchant would only get paid after the customer has received the items they bought.

The Bank for International Settlements has put forth a plan for cross-border, tokenized asset transactions using a unified ledger.

The white paper further encourages central banks, financial institutions, and fintech companies to do more research on potential applications for digital money.

As Singapore continues to welcome crypto-related businesses and activity, Circle, the issuer of the USD Coin (USDC) stablecoin, was granted a license in Singapore on June 7, joining other major payment institutions.

Just a few days before, Crypto.com was granted a license from MAS for digital payment token services.

Magazine: South Korea’s Crypto Outbreak, Bank of China on Ethereum, Hong Kong’s Exchange Rollout: Asia Express.