The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) is ready to deploy Project Ubin, a multi-currency blockchain payment system, for commercial use.
Singapore authorities said the project for a payment system on the blockchain, Project Ubin, has been completed and is ready for commercial launch. The first time that MAS is working with a group of banks, consultancy R3 Deloitte and the consortium to create a “digital Singapore dollar» (SGD) – Initiative Project Ubin – became known in 2017.
At the final stage of the project, MAS worked in collaboration with Singapore-based investment company Temasek and US investment bank JPMorgan. The Singapore regulator successfully completed the development of a prototype payment network in November 2019. Since then, authorities have tested the system.
According to an official statement by MAS, the payment network will provide an interface that will allow “other blockchains to seamlessly connect and integrate” with the system. According to Reuters, the system will also allow for faster and cheaper cross-border payments in several currencies, currency exchange and settlements on securities denominated in foreign currency.
Last month, MAS Managing Director Ravi Menon said the country plans to work closely with China to experiment with state cryptocurrency.
Recall that in May last year, the Central Banks of Canada and Singapore completed testing cross-border payments using blockchain and digital currencies issued by banks. As part of this initiative, banks combined their projects on the Jasper and Ubin blockchain.