The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) has escalated its efforts to expand its asset tokenization initiatives under Project Guardian. This move aims to catalyze the institutional adoption of digital assets, aiming to unleash liquidity, unlock new investment opportunities, and enhance the efficiency of financial markets.

A key advancement in this endeavor is the initiation of five additional industry pilots under Project Guardian, involving 17 financial institutions. These pilots explore diverse applications ranging from the efficient execution of bilateral digital asset trades by Citi, T. Rowe Price Associates, and Fidelity International to BNY Mellon and OCBC’s trial of a cross-border FX payment solution. Ant Group’s treasury management solution aimed at enhancing global liquidity management and Franklin Templeton’s exploration of a tokenized money market fund further exemplifies the innovative spirit of these initiatives.

MAS collaborations and partnership pilots.

J.P. Morgan and Apollo’s collaboration in using digital assets for investment and managing discretionary portfolios stands out as a significant step towards automated portfolio rebalancing and customization at scale. These developments highlight the potential for time-saving and reduction in manual processes in asset servicing, showcasing the transformative impact of digital assets in financial operations.

Complementing these pilots, MAS’s launch of a new funds workstream focuses on the native issuance of Variable Capital Company (VCC) funds on digital asset networks. This ambitious project, which involves collaboration with the Accounting and Corporate Regulatory Authority (ACRA), is designed to address key tax, policy, and legal considerations while broadening distribution channels for asset managers.

On the infrastructure front, MAS is collaborating with international policymakers and financial institutions like BNY Mellon, DBS, JP Morgan, and MUFG on the Global Layer One (GL1) initiative. GL1 aims to establish an open digital infrastructure to host tokenized financial assets and applications. This infrastructure is envisioned to facilitate seamless cross-border transactions and enable the trading of tokenized assets across global liquidity pools.

In addition to GL1, MAS is developing the Interlinked Network Model (INM), a framework for exchanging digital assets across independent networks. This model, detailed in the newly published whitepaper “Interlinking Networks,” is a critical step towards enabling financial institutions to transact without being on the same network.

Including the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in Project Guardian’s policymaker group further underlines the global reach and significance of these initiatives. The IMF’s role will provide an international perspective on policies and legal issues crucial for cross-border platform cooperation and maintaining international monetary system stability.

What is Project Guardian?

Project Guardian, inaugurated in May 2022, marked a pivotal point for MAS in its quest to harness the value of asset tokenization. Within the first few months, the project saw its first live trades in decentralized finance applications in wholesale funding markets. The milestone demonstrated the tangible progress and potential of MAS’s vision in the evolving world of finance​.

A key aspect of Project Guardian is its focus on open, interoperable networks. The MAS published a detailed monograph titled “Project Guardian: Open Interoperable Networks,” outlining the vision, principles, and architectural designs necessary for such networks in the digital asset domain. This publication delves into the benefits, challenges, and crucial regulatory and governance frameworks to support these networks.

As MAS Deputy Managing Director Mr. Leong Sing Chiong asserted, the success of Project Guardian’s industry pilots in demonstrating the viability of tokenized financial assets has laid the groundwork for realizing the full potential of tokenized markets. He said,

“Project Guardian’s industry pilots have successfully demonstrated that tokenised financial assets such as fixed income, foreign exchange, and asset management products can be traded, distributed, and settled seamlessly across borders.”

He noted that establishing scalable digital infrastructures like GL1 and INM will provide foundational support, uniting markets under principles of openness and accessibility akin to the public internet.

By fostering collaborative innovation, embracing new technologies, and integrating global perspectives, MAS is revolutionizing Singapore’s financial landscape and arguably setting a benchmark for the international financial community.