（Singapore, July 14, 2020）Singapore announced today a report that provides technical insights into the blockchain-based multi-currency payments network prototype.
The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) and Temasek today jointly released the report, called “Project Ubin Phase 5: Enabling Broad Ecosystem Opportunities”, to mark the successful conclusion of the fifth and the final phase of Project Ubin.
Mr. Sopnendu Mohanty, Chief FinTech Officer, MAS, said, “As with all innovation adoption, there is a time for experimentation and a time for commercialization.”
He said Project Ubin has worked with the financial industry and blockchain community on a journey of experimentation, prototyping, and learning.
“This has built a strong foundation of knowledge, expertise, and experience, and paved a path towards commercial adoption. Following the successful experimentation over five phases, we look forward to greater adoption and live deployment of blockchain technology.”
The report, which Accenture was commissioned to publish, examines the use of blockchain technology in commercial applications across different industries, and how these applications could benefit from integrating with the blockchain-based payments network prototype developed.
These benefits were validated through workshops conducted with more than 40 financial and non-financial firms engaged in Phase 5 of Project Ubin.
Officials say that the multi-currency payments network prototype developed under Project Ubin Phase 5 successfully settled payments in different currencies on the same network.
An international settlement network, modeled after this payment network prototype, could enable faster and cheaper transactions than conventional cross-border payments channels.
Also, the project validated the use of smart contracts on the payments network prototype in use cases such as Delivery-versus-Payment (DvP) settlement with assets on private exchanges, conditional payments, and escrow for trade, as well as payment commitments for trade finance.
The commercial applications of the payments network prototype include cross-border payments in multiple currencies, foreign currency exchange, settlement of foreign currency-denominated securities, as well as integration with other blockchain-based platforms to enable end-to-end digitalization across many industries and use cases.
The payments network prototype, developed in collaboration with J.P. Morgan and Temasek, can serve as a test network to facilitate collaboration with other central banks and the financial industry for developing next-generation cross-border payments infrastructure. Technical specifications for the functionalities and connectivity interfaces of the prototype network have been made publicly available to spur further industry development.
Mr Chia Song Hwee, Deputy Chief Executive Officer, Temasek, said, “Phase 5 of Project Ubin has demonstrated the commercial applicability, viability and benefits of blockchain technology across industries, beyond capital markets and trade finance. ”
“This validates Temasek’s efforts in exploring and building blockchain solutions focusing on digital identity, digital currencies, and financial asset tokenization. We look forward to supporting commercialization efforts emanating from Project Ubin and other application areas, with a view to driving greater adoption of blockchain technology.”
Project Ubin has been an impactful journey of experimentation and innovation with the industry since it first started in 2016. Working with a broad group of participants from Singapore and around the world, the project has published five reports during its first four phases.
The continued research efforts of Project Ubin and other projects by the industry, and the unprecedented sharing and contribution to the global body of knowledge, have rapidly advanced the maturity level of blockchain technology.
