Author: A recent report informs that Singapore has developed a fully functional blockchain-based payment network allowing faster and cheaper international settlements. The team behind it, including investment giant Temasek and US multinational bank JP Morgan, is finalizing technical details for the prototype, and the final product should arrive soon.
Singapore Taps Blockchain For A Payment Network
According to the report from Reuters, local authorities announced earlier today that the platform, called “Project Ubin,” has been developed to serve as a blockchain-based payments network. The project is currently in its fifth and final phase, where the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) will team up with state-owned investor Temasek, and JP Morgan.
The trio partnered to develop the network, which facilitates and lowers the costs of international multi-currency payments. MAS and Temasek specified in a joint statement that the prototype will also incorporate several commercial applications.
Apart from cross-border payments in multiple currencies, those include foreign currency exchange, settlement of foreign currency-denominated securities, and more.
“An international settlement network, modeled after this payments network prototype, could enable faster and cheaper transactions than conventional cross-border payments channels,” the two entities added in the announcement.
Before officially rolling out the payments network to the public, the organizations are planning to implement some technical improvements. The statement reads that they should “spur further industry development.”
Another report on the matter indicated that Project Ubin had been utilized in other applications. Those include salary payments to gig workers with recruitment agency Adecco Group AG and digital dividend payments in Swiss francs to investors in Singapore through Sygnum Bank AG.
Temasek Joins Facebook’s Libra
Project Ubin is not Temasek’s only attempt to get into online blockchain-based payment operations. As CryptoPotato reported in May, Singapore’s government-owned investment firm joined Facebook’s future cryptocurrency project – Libra.
Temasek became a member of the Libra Association because the company believes it would “allow us to contribute towards a regulated global network for cost-effective retail payments.”
Interestingly, Temasek’s decision came when global regulators were clamping down on Libra, and numerous other prominent companies, such as PayPal, MasterCard, and Visa Inc, left the project.
The investment firm, with a reported portfolio exceeding $220 billion, also owns and controls multibillion-dollar stakes in massive companies such as Singapore Airlines Ltd and Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba Group Holding Ltd.
Featured Image Courtesy Of Independent
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