The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) has unveiled five industry pilots under the ambitious Project Guardian on Oct. 15. As per reports, this collaborative initiative, in partnership with key financial institutions, can amplify efforts in expanding asset tokenization initiatives and developing foundational capabilities essential for scaling tokenized markets.

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Pilot Highlights

The first pilot witnesses Citi, T. Rowe Price, and Fidelity International testing institutional-grade mechanisms for pricing and executing bilateral digital asset trades. Simultaneously, BNY Mellon and OCBC are trialing a cross-border FX payment solution, aiming to facilitate secure and interoperable payment solutions across diverse networks.

In the third pilot, Ant Group is exploring a treasury management solution designed to enhance global liquidity management funding. This solution promises real-time multi-currency clearing and settlement through their global treasury center in Singapore, supporting over 40 currencies.

Franklin Templeton, in the fourth pilot, will be exploring the issuance of a tokenized money market fund using a Variable Capital Company (VCC) structure. This structure utilizes digital asset networks for maintaining records of fund shares, marking a significant leap in fund management.

J.P. Morgan and Apollo, in the fifth pilot, collaborate on leveraging digital assets for more seamless investment and management of discretionary portfolios and alternative assets

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Driving Institutional Adoption of Digital Assets

MAS's strategic collaboration with the financial industry is geared towards enhancing foundational capabilities, fostering institutional adoption of digital assets, and optimizing overall market efficiency. The multifaceted initiatives under Project Guardian aim to unlock liquidity, create investment opportunities, and elevate the efficiency of financial markets.

Project Guardian: A Collaborative Endeavor

Project Guardian emerges as a collaborative initiative, uniting policymakers and the financial industry. Its primary objective is to explore and test the feasibility of applications in asset tokenization and decentralized finance (DeFi) while meticulously managing risks to financial stability and integrity

This new focus area will center around the native issuance of Variable Capital Company (VCC) funds on digital asset networks, addressing tax, policy, and legal considerations while expanding distribution channels for asset managers.

At the same time, MAS is leading initiatives in digital infrastructure, working with international policymakers and financial institutions to develop Global Layer One (GL1). As an open, digital infrastructure, GL1 is designed to facilitate seamless cross-border transactions and enable the trading of tokenized assets across global liquidity pools.