Australia, Malaysia, Singapore join forces to test digital currencies ‘blueprint’ but US remains ‘sceptical’

The Bank for International Settlements’ project will look at allowing institutions to transact in the digital currencies (CBDCs) issued by the other central banks. China, Hong Kong, Thailand and the United Arab Emirates are working on a separate project to study the feasibility of using CBDCs for cross-border payments. — SCMP

Central banks in Australia, Singapore, Malaysia and South Africa will join forces to test the use of multiple central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) on a shared platform for cross border payments and settlements.

Led by the Bank for International Settlements (BIS) Innovation Hub in Singapore, Project Dunbar is aimed at allowing financial institutions to transact with each other in the digital currencies issued by participating central banks, cutting the time and cost of transactions, the BIS said.