MAS Announces Finalists for Global CBDC Challenge
The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) announced 15 finalists for the global competition to develop the retail central bank digital currency (CBDC) solutions. The finalists include ANZ Banking Group Limited, Citibank NA, Consensys, Singapore Branch, HSBC Bank (Singapore) Limited, IBM, IDEMIA, Soramitsu, and Standard Chartered Bank. The finalists, which comprise financial institutions and financial technology solution providers, will progress to the Acceleration phase of the Global CBDC Challenge, before they pitch their solutions to a panel of judges and an international audience at this year’s Singapore fintech festival. This global challenge attracted over 300 submissions from more than 50 countries, with >50% submissions coming from Asia.
Participants were invited to address 12 problem statements on CBDC instrument, distribution, and infrastructure, covering topics such as inclusivity, interoperability, and programmability. The proposals from the finalists sought to address multiple problem statements through a variety of technology approaches, including hardware wallets, digital identity, and asset tokenization solutions. The finalists were selected by an independent panel of judges comprising policy and technical experts, academia, and senior representatives from some of the intergovernmental organization partners. The finalists will next go through an eight-week Acceleration Phase, supported by Tribe Accelerator, where they will develop and refine their solutions. Finalists will participate in masterclasses and networking sessions with industry experts and be given access to the API Exchange (APIX) Digital Currency Sandbox for rapid prototyping of their digital currency solutions. During the Global CBDC Challenge’s Demo Day as part of the Singapore fintech festival 2021, the finalists will present their innovations. The solutions of the finalists as well as key insights from the other submissions will be featured in a post-event report
Keywords: Asia Pacific, Singapore, Banking, CBDC, Digital Currencies, Global CBDC Challenge, Fintech, Regtech, MAS
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