MAS Push To Pioneer Commercialization of Asset Tokenization

The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) on Monday said it plans to deepen support for asset tokenization, pushing to lead in commercial networks. Singapore’s central bank to enhance liquidity and adoption of tokenization in financial services. This will boost cryptocurrencies and crypto projects involved in the tokenization of assets.

MAS to Boost Asset Tokenization

Monetary Authority of Singapore has announced plans to grow tokenization in financial services, as per an official press release by the central bank on November 4.

MAS said it will focus on forming commercial networks, developing market infrastructures, fostering industry frameworks, and enabling settlement facility to push asset tokenization. Notably, MAS has already convened over 40 financial institutions, industry associations, and international policymakers across seven countries under Project Guardian.

MAS will boost liquidity and adoption across primary and secondary markets for tokenized asset transactions. Banks such as Citi, HSBC, Schroders, Standard Chartered and UOB have formed the Guardian Wholesale Network industry group to form commercial networks.

“By connecting a broader set of participants’ products and services across multiple currencies and assets, greater improvements in capital raising, secondary trading, asset servicing and settlement of tokenised assets may be realised.”

The Global Layer One (GL1) will provide digital infrastructure ecosystem to facilitate seamless cross border transactions. BNY, Citi, J.P. Morgan, MUFG and Societe Generale-FORGE have been leading efforts to define the business, governance, risk, legal, and technology requirements of the GL1 Platform.

The other set of industry participants, including Euroclear and HSBC are focusing on digital asset securities control principles.

Two Industry Frameworks Developed by Project Guardian Today

Project Guardian industry group members published two industry frameworks today. MAS added that these will help in the acceptance and implementation of asset tokenization in the financial industry.

• Guardian Fixed Income Framework (GFIF) — This helps implement tokenization in debt capital markets, strengthen industry capabilities and boost adoption of tokenized fixed income solutions.
• Guardian Funds Framework (GFF) – It provides recommendations for best practices for tokenized funds, including fund settlement.

Interestingly, the MAS has opted for common settlement assets including Singapore dollar wholesale CBDC for market testing purposes. DBS, OCBC, Standard Chartered, and UOB are participating in use cases such as payments and securities settlement.

Crypto Projects Boosting Tokenization of Real World Assets

The MAS asset tokenization plans are not new as top RWA crypto projects are rapidly expanding to connect decentralized finance with traditional finance. Crypto tokens that benefit from the commercialization of asset tokenization include Ondo Finance, Mantra, Pendle, and others.

Recently, Ripple collaborated with crypto exchange Archax to boost XRP Ledger in becoming a leader in real world assets (RWA) tokenization. Ripple allocated $10 million to mint US Treasury bulls on the XRPLedger in support of the initiative. Open Eden boasts $90 million in total valued locked (TVL) tokenized US T-bills spread across Ethereum, Arbitrum, and XRPL.

In October, Aurum Equity Partners launched a $1 billion in tokenized equity and debt fund on the XRP Ledger. This is being heavily promoted as the “world’s first combined equity and debt tokenized fund.”