Unified Infrastructure for CBDC and Tokenized Assets Opens Great Possibilities: BIS | CoinDesk JAPAN | CoinDesk Japan

A new type of market infrastructure in the form of a unified electronic ledger will strengthen the global financial system, according to a June 20 report by the Bank for International Settlements (BIS).

Proposed by the BIS, the governing body of central banks, as part of its annual economic report, the ledger will be a central bank digital currency with the help of automated smart contracts that transact on blockchains such as Ethereum. (CBDC) and tokenized money and assets can be combined on one platform.

In a press release, BIS economic adviser and head of research Hyun Song Shin said, “We will bring together various assets, such as central bank money and commercial money, on the same platform, all tokenized. Letting them interact opens up a whole new world of possibilities.”

The current currency system is not seamless because the database must be connected by a third-party messaging system like SWIFT, and participants exchange messages with incomplete knowledge of their behavior, the report said. It added that the new unified ledger would eliminate “delays and uncertainties.”

According to the BIS, the vision of such a financial system would provide new ways to integrate the individual steps into a single transaction in securities settlement and enable tokenized deposits incorporating regulatory checks for wholesale CBDCs. It is said that Such a system could also reduce the cost of trade finance for SMEs.

The BIS’s proposed unified ledger may outstrip similar integrated platforms envisioned by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for CBDCs. A global CBDC platform could be more efficient and secure than traditional platforms, said Tobias Adrian, head of the IMF’s financial and capital markets department, in a speech on Wednesday. ing.

“We are now in a time of another great leap forward in our monetary and financial systems, with profound implications for the economy and society as a whole,” BIS’s Singh said. “This will be a game changer in how we think about money and how we transact.”

A unified ledger for cross-border payments will also require policy harmonization across jurisdictions, the BIS report said.

The BIS did not mention the technical or design aspects of such a unified ledger, but Singh said that while the mechanism to enable transactions could be decentralized, he did not consider using a permissionless blockchain. Stated.

“I think the actual technology choice really has to be determined for that particular use case,” Singh said at a press conference about the report. “It can be decentralized like a permissioned blockchain, but it doesn’t have to be. It’s a centralized system with strict controls around data confidentiality, cyber resilience, etc. It is possible.”

The next step, according to Singh, is for a group of central banks to come together to advance the project under a public policy mandate with the help of the private sector, which will do most of the customer-facing activities. It will be processed.

“I believe that this project will be very important, involving not only public institutions but also private companies. ing.

｜Translation: coindesk JAPAN
｜Editing: Toshihiko Inoue
｜Image: Hyung Sung Shin, Head of Research, Bank for International Settlements (BIS)
｜Original: Unified Ledger for CBDCs, Tokenized Assets Could Enhance Global Financial System: BIS