Landmark Institutions Mark Their Entry into DeFi

The central bank of Singapore namely the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) has announced completing its first trade ever in the decentralized finance (DeFi) sector.

MAS informed that under the bank’s Project Guardian, MAS was able to successfully conclude its live traders in the DeFi.

MAS also mentioned that Project Guardian was specifically designed to provide an opportunity for the bank for exploring potential applications in the DeFi sector.

The details of the announcement revealed further that transactions involving foreign exchange and government bonds were carried out by major institutions.

It was noted that the participants, which took part in the DeFi trades, included JP Morgan, SBI Digital Asset Holding, and DBS Bank.

These top-notch institutions concluded their first tokenized transactions in DeFi of bonds backed by the Japanese and Singapore governments.

Similarly, foreign exchange transactions in DeFi too were also executed by the participants of tokenized national currencies of Japan and Singapore.

MAS’s DeFi exploring project came into existence in May this year. According to MAS, the project has attracted the financial industry by pointing out key areas where collaboration can be made.

Two Further DeFi Projects in the Pipeline

It was further revealed in the announcement that there are two new DeFi pilot projects in the pipeline on which MAS is currently working.

In the first project, the initiative will be led by Standard Chartered Bank, and the aim of the project is restricted to trade finance only.

In addition, Standard Chartered Bank’s initiative will also focus on digitalizing the markets pertaining to trade distribution, suggested the announcement.

MAS pointed out further that the project will ensure the provision of conveniently accessible and efficient assets to the investors. Resultantly, trade assets can then easily be converted into transferable assets by the investors.

As regards the second project, the announcement revealed that it aims at wealth management. It was revealed that the initiative will be led by UOB and HSBC.

Both of them are currently coordinating with an entity called ‘Marketnode’ whose services have been sought for the digitalization of products of wealth management.

This project also aims at introducing transparent and more reliable products to the investors, said MAS.

Sopnendu Mohanty, Chief Fintech Officer at MAS, said that upon sending live the two pilot projects, the capital markets will be highly benefited.

He said that decentralized finance and digital assets possess huge potential for revolutionizing capital markets. Mohanty commented that though the step was challenging yet MAS was able to conveniently take the step.

Mohanty remarked that Project Guardian is a unique project which has educated MAS in a better understanding of DeFi, crypto, and related products.

JP Morgan’s Announcement

Following MAS’s announcement, another was made by JP Morgan explaining that the bank was able to execute a live trading transaction in the DeFi arena.