Ant International, in collaboration with the International Swaps and Derivatives Association (ISDA), released an industry framework for cross - border payment tokenization in Singapore.
Ant International and the International Swaps and Derivatives Association (hereinafter referred to as "ISDA"), supported by the Monetary Authority of Singapore's Project Guardian, jointly released the white paper "Use of Tokenised Bank Liabilities for Transaction Banking". This aims to promote the development of tokenized deposits and shared ledgers in the fields of cross - border payments and foreign exchange settlement, and proposes the basic principles and standards for tokenized deposit technology.
ISDA is an important formulator of global banking standards related to foreign exchange and cross - border transactions. Ant International mainly provides cross - border payment and fintech services for global enterprises and financial institutions. The two are the co - leaders of the foreign exchange working group in the Monetary Authority of Singapore's "Project Guardian". Other participating institutions in the project include BNY Mellon, the Foreign Exchange Division of the Global Financial Markets Association, HSBC, and OCBC Bank.
Currently, the risks and costs associated with foreign exchange settlement caused by cross - market and cross - currency transactions are constantly rising. It is reported that global enterprises pay up to $120 billion in cross - border transaction fees annually. Promoting the digital upgrade of cross - border payments and foreign exchange settlement through deposit tokenization to improve capital liquidity and efficiency has become an important concern for global regulators.
The report covers three major areas: industry standard setting, risk management and control, and verification of practical use cases
The report integrates the technical expertise, foreign exchange payment experience, and extensive industry resources of all parties. Its main contents include three aspects: First, it proposes the design principles and industry standards for tokenized deposits and ensures interoperability; second, it systematically elaborates on the key risks and countermeasures of the payment system based on shared ledger technology; in addition, it verifies its feasibility through practical use cases in transaction banking.
It is estimated that this framework is expected to reduce cross - border transaction costs by 12.5% and save enterprises more than $50 billion in expenses by 2030. As a supporting measure, ISDA has specifically developed a standard document for tokenized deposits applicable to foreign exchange trading scenarios based on the existing framework, providing complete compliance guarantees for technological applications.
Practical use cases prove that tokenized deposits and shared ledger technology can significantly improve the speed, security, and efficiency of cross - border payments. For example, Ant International's real - time multi - currency clearing and settlement global treasury management platform called Whale uses blockchain, encryption technology, and AI capabilities to support all - weather instant foreign exchange settlement, shortening the original 1 - 3 day settlement cycle to minutes or even seconds. In 2024, more than one - third of the $1 trillion in funds processed by Ant International passed through the Whale platform. Citibank, HSBC, Standard Chartered Bank, Deutsche Bank, BNP Paribas, etc. have reached cooperation with Ant International to launch tokenized deposit services on the Whale platform.
Continuously expand application scenarios to ensure that innovative technologies benefit small and medium - sized enterprises
Both Ant International and ISDA said that in the future, the foreign exchange industry group of "Project Guardian" will continue to expand the application scenarios of shared ledgers and tokenized deposits and promote technological applications by developing more digital economy use cases. Related work includes: connecting with the existing bank system architecture and supporting the integration of other digital assets to ensure that both large and small and medium - sized enterprises can benefit from this innovative technology.
Ni Bingrong, the Chief Fintech Officer of the Monetary Authority of Singapore, said: "The application of tokenized deposit technology marks a new stage in the development of cross - border payments and foreign exchange settlement. Relying on the infrastructure of shared ledger technology, tokenized deposit technology can achieve all - weather instant cross - border settlement, helping to improve the capital liquidity management of transaction banking. We look forward to working with the members of 'Project Guardian' to promote related work and jointly improve the operating efficiency of the global financial market."
Scott O'Malia, the CEO of ISDA, said: "Tokenization technology will reshape the cross - border payment and foreign exchange settlement system, not only significantly improving efficiency but also greatly reducing risks. In our cooperation with the Monetary Authority of Singapore, Ant International, and the industry working group, we have deeply realized that establishing a unified standard industry framework is crucial for the safe and efficient use of tokenized deposit technology. In the future, ISDA will continue to deepen research in this area to further unleash its application potential."
Li Yue, the head of platform technology at Ant International, said: "We are very honored to jointly promote the industry application of tokenization technology with ISDA under the guidance of the Monetary Authority of Singapore. Since 2019, Ant International has been using tokenized deposit technology to improve large - value payment and fund management services. This solution not only enables faster, lower - cost, and safer cross - border payments but also transforms technological advantages into more competitive customer foreign exchange rates and more efficient foreign exchange settlement services. We will continue to upgrade the Whale platform and support enterprises of different sizes with shared ledger technologies such as tokenized deposits and stablecoins."