Deutsche Bank collaborates with Singapore’s central bank on tokenization project

Deutsche Bank, a German multinational investment bank, has announced a partnership with Singapore’s central bank, the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS), aimed at the tokenization of assets. The bank has joined MAS’s Project Guardian, which focuses on tokenization of assets in wholesale finance markets and decentralized finance (DeFi) applications.

Potential for efficient, safe and flexible solution

As part of this collaboration, Deutsche Bank will test an open architecture and interoperable blockchain platform for tokenized and digital funds. The bank will also propose protocol standards and identify the best approaches to further the progress of the sector.

Boon-Hiong Chan, Deutsche Asia Pacific’s head of securities and technology, will lead the bank’s participation in Project Guardian. The bank is expected to work closely with Memento Blockchain, a platform focused on DeFi and digital asset management. Deutsche Bank and Memento Blockchain previously collaborated successfully in 2022 and 2023 on a proof-of-concept known as Project DAMA (Digital Assets Management Access).

This initiative aims to unlock the potential for a more efficient, secure and flexible solution for digital fund management and investment services. Deutsche Bank’s efforts are now focused on the introduction of DAMA 2. This development will also involve Interop Labs, the initial developer of the major interoperable blockchain, the Axelar network.

Previous collaborations with Alexar

Some major cryptocurrency companies, including Ripple, have partnered with the Axelar Foundation to add interoperability to their blockchain networks. Ripple announced a partnership with Axelar in February 2024, with the aim of tokenizing real-world assets (RWA) from the XRP Ledger, which will be made interoperable through Axelar.

Launched in 2022 by the MAS, Project Guardian is a collaborative initiative between the MAS and other financial market players, including the United Kingdom’s Financial Conduct Authority, the Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority and Japan’s Financial Services Agency.

Rapport over stablecoins

Deutsche Bank’s participation in Singapore’s tokenization project comes just days after the bank published a report on stablecoins, which raised questions about the transparency of major issuers such as Tether. Tether responded strongly to Deutsche Bank’s claims, insisting that the report did not provide substantial evidence or concrete data to support the claims.

Tether’s USDT stablecoin is an important part of the cryptocurrency market and accounts for the largest share in terms of transactions. It is also the world’s largest stablecoin with a total market value of almost $111 billion.