Singapore Unveils Plan to Ensure Seamless Financial Transactions Across Digital Asset Networks Ravi Menon, the managing director of
Singapore’s central bank, the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS),
discussed digital assets at Singapore Fintech Festival last week. Menon then provided details on the central bank’s strategy to build the new financial architecture via
Project Guardian. He explained,
“MAS and industry partners are tokenizing different asset classes with specific desired outcomes.” Additionally, he mentioned that the International Monetary Fund (IMF) is joining the Project Guardian policymaker group.
The MAS established this policymaker group in October in partnership with Japan’s Financial Services Agency (FSA), the Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority (FINMA), and the United Kingdom’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA).
The central banker also discussed digital money. He explained that privately issued cryptocurrencies, central bank digital currencies (CBDCs), tokenized bank liabilities, and well-regulated stablecoins are
“four contenders for digital money.” Noting that many crypto investors have
“suffered significant losses,” he opined:
Cryptocurrencies have failed the test of digital money. They have performed poorly as a medium of exchange or store of value. Their prices are subject to sharp speculative swings. “Wholesale CBDCs and tokenized bank liabilities can play the role of digital money and help to achieve atomic settlement,” stated Menon. Noting that well-regulated stablecoins can also “
play a useful role as digital money,” he said the monetary authority has granted in-principle approval under the Payment Services Act to three stablecoin issuers:
Straitsx SGD Issuance, Straitsx USD Issuance, and Paxos Digital Singapore.
