Singapore Central Bank considers integrating blockchain with central depositories

The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) joined the Ubin project that allows the world’s central banks to have cross-border transactions in real time with the help of blockchain. The R3 banking consortium, Bank of America Merrill Lynch, Credit Suisse, JPMorgan and Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group are also the members of this project. The MAS is currently at the second phase of the project, researching the DLT, or Distributed Ledger Technology, and its use in connection with central depositories, as reported by Coindesk.

At this phase of research, the Central Bank of Singapore compares the traditional payment methods with blockchain technological opportunities. This is a three-step phase, and one of the responsibilities of the project staff is research of such technologies as Enigma MIT, Intel Software Guard Extensions (SGX) technology and cryptographic tools by Micorsoft.

If step two deems to be successful, step three will have even more wider usage of cryptocurrencies among central banks.

The document prepared by the MAS states that the research’s goal is to discover the opportunities of blockchain technology via practical experimentation and integration of existing financial elements (clearing sphere, interbank electronic payment system etc.) with private blockchain Quorum based on Ethereum. The authors of this document also noted that tokens issued by the Central Bank can serve as a basis for alternative payment system, more efficient and simple than any existing at present.