Singapore is expanding its CBDC project. A new project called Ubin+ was launched by the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) to investigate the use of central bank digital currency (CBDC) for international currency exchange.
Ubin+ will test the interoperability of ledger and non-ledger payment systems, the use of CBDC in foreign exchange and liquidity management, and the connection between CBDC and other digital asset networks.
Singapore’s MAS is involving French and Swiss central banks
Project Mariana, a measure to manage foreign exchange and liquidity, involves the Bank for International Settlements (BIS) Innovation Hub centers, MAS, Banque de France, Swiss National Bank, and the central banks of France and Switzerland. In the project, foreign exchange dealings with the Swiss franc, euro, and Singapore dollar will be examined.
The announcement comes one day after the launch of two new projects for wealth management and trade finance products by MAS, Singapore’s central bank. Along with 17 other central banks and commercial banks, MAS is a participant in SWIFT’s CBDC Sandbox, which tests cross-border interoperability.
Circle and Paxos, two stablecoin issuers, have each received approval from the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS), the city-central state’s bank, for their respective licenses.
Paxos received its license to provide services for digital payment tokens, while Circle received in-principle permission for a major payments institution license that will enable it to issue cryptocurrencies and manage domestic and international payments.
On November 2, Circle and Paxos both revealed their approvals, a week after the MAS published two consultation papers on ideas for regulating stablecoin issuers and providers of digital payment token services under Singapore’s Payment Services Act (PSA).
CBDCs are gaining popularity among global nations recently. The central bank of India started a pilot program on Tuesday for its digital currency, enabling a small number of banks to settle trades in government securities on the secondary market.
According to data from Clearing Corp. of India Ltd., among the first financial instruments to be traded using the new form of money were 7.38% of the 2027 debt and 7.26% of the 2032 bonds. The trial includes participation from nine banks. The Reserve Bank of India intends to test the e-rupee for retail use in a few significant locations within a month.
