The Monetary Authority of Singapore is collaborating with financial institutions on new pilots and infrastructure to advance asset tokenization initiatives under Project Guardian.
The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) has announced new collaborations with 17 financial institutions to expand asset tokenization initiatives and develop infrastructure to support tokenized financial markets.
Through Project Guardian, MAS aims to catalyze institutional adoption of digital assets and increase efficiency in financial markets.
New pilots led by industry partners like Citi, BNY Mellon, Ant Group, Franklin Templeton and J.P. Morgan will test asset tokenization applications across areas like trading, settlement, payments, portfolio management and issuance of tokenized funds.
MAS is also launching a Project Guardian workstream focused specifically on enabling native issuance of VCC funds on blockchain networks. It will work with regulators to address policy and legal considerations for digitized fund shares.
To scale tokenization globally, MAS is developing an open digital infrastructure called Global Layer One in collaboration with regulators and firms like DBS and MUFG. This aims to allow seamless cross-border transactions.
The International Monetary Fund has joined the project's policymaker group to provide guidance on global cooperation and stability.
MAS Deputy MD Leong Sing Chiong said, “GL1 will provide a foundational digital backbone and bring markets together with similar principles of openness and accessibility as the public internet. MAS welcomes additional policymakers and financial institutions to participate in the design phase of the GL1 initiative and contribute towards its development.”
