Financial Institutions In Singapore Develop Cross-Blockchain Settlement Platform

November 12, 2018 11:42 PM

Singapore’s stock exchange, SGX, and the country’s central bank, the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS), have announced the development of a blockchain-powered system intended to increase the efficiency of finalizing transactions related to tokenized digital assets and securities, according to a November 11 press release. 

Different prototypes of the new platform, dubbed “Delivery versus Payment” (DvP), were developed in collaboration with Anquan Capital, Deloitte, and Nasdaq, and have reportedly demonstrated that DvP can be used by financial institutions and corporate investors “to carry out the simultaneous exchange and final settlement of tokenised digital currencies and securities assets on different blockchain platforms.” Allowing users to simultaneously carry out such transactions on a blockchain platform is intended to increase the efficiency of the settlement process and reduce the risk of payments being sent to or intercepted by a malicious actor.

According to an industry report published jointly by the SGX and MAS, the new platform is able to be integrated into any blockchain because instead of tying the smart contract engine that manages contract execution to a single blockchain platform, the engine was built above the core blockchain as a separate layer. Developing DvP in this manner is intended to “facilitate the switching of the underlying DLT without changing the smart contract logic or the user interface.”

MAS Chief FinTech Officer Sopnendu Mohanty expressed his excitement over the new platform, saying, “The concept of asset tokenisation, as well as other learnings gleaned from this project, can potentially be applied to a broad spectrum of the economy, creating a whole new world of opportunities.”

DvP is part of Project Ubin, which began in November of 2016 as an effort by Singapore’s financial industry to explore different uses cases for blockchain technology, specifically focusing on the clearing and settlement of payments and securities. 

Nathan Graham is a full-time staff writer for ETHNews. He lives in Sparks, Nevada, with his wife, Beth, and dog, Kyia. Nathan has a passion for new technology, grant writing, and short stories. He spends his time rafting the American River, playing video games, and writing.

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