Blockchain

BIS to Test Central Bank Digital Currencies With Australia, Malaysia, Singapore, S. Africa

The Bank for International Settlements (BIS) Innovation Hub will test the use of central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) for international settlements with Australia, Malaysia, Singapore and South Africa.

Led by the Innovation Hub’s Singapore center, Project Dunbar aims to develop a prototype of shared platforms for cross-border transactions using multiple CBDCs.

These multi-CBDC platforms will allow financial institutions to transact directly with each other in the digital currencies issued by participating central banks, eliminating the need for intermediaries and cutting the time and cost of transactions.

The project will work with multiple partners to develop technical prototypes on different distributed ledger technology platforms.

It will also explore different governance and operating designs that would enable central banks to share CBDC infrastructures, benefitting from the collaboration between public and private sector experts in different jurisdictions and areas of operation.

Project Dunbar’s work will explore the international dimension of CBDC design and support the efforts of the G20 roadmap for enhancing cross-border payments.

Its results, expected to be published in early 2022, will inform the development of future platforms for global and regional settlements.

Technical prototypes of the shared platforms, developed in collaboration with different technology partners, will be demonstrated at the Singapore Fintech Festival in November 2021.

The Monetary Authority of Singapore had recently launched a global challenge for retail CBDCs where 15 finalists were shortlisted.

Andrew McCormack

“Project Dunbar brings together central banks with years of experience and unique perspectives in CBDC projects and ecosystem partners at advanced stages of technical development on digital currencies.

With this group of capable and passionate partners, we are confident that our work on multi-CBDCs for international settlements will break new ground in this next stage of CBDC experimentation and lay the foundation for global payments connectivity,”

said Andrew McCormack, Head of the BIS Innovation Hub Singapore Center.

Join BIS, DBS, Wise, and Bottomline on the 7th of September at 11:00 am as we discuss how CBDC will shape the future of cross-border payments and more. Details and registration available here