SINGAPORE (Reuters) -Singapore's central bank will hold trials to issue tokenised MAS bills next year and bring in laws to regulate stablecoins ​as it presses forward with plans to build a scalable and secure tokenised financial ‌ecosystem, the bank's top official said on Thursday. "Tokenisation has lifted off the ground. But ‌have asset-backed tokens achieved escape velocity? Not yet," said Chia Der Jiun, Managing Director of the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS), a keynote address at the Singapore F ...

Core Insights - Uganda has initiated a $5.5 billion blockchain project for real-world asset tokenization alongside its first central bank digital currency (CBDC) pilot [1][2] - The project aims to tokenize physical infrastructure assets across various sectors, including food production, mining, renewable energy, and trade [1] - The CBDC will be backed by Ugandan treasury bonds and will operate on a permissioned blockchain, ensuring compliance with international standards [2][4] Project Details - The initiative is led by the Global Settlement Network (GSN) and Uganda's Diacente Group, with a focus on creating a programmable economy linked to real assets [3] - The CBDC will be accessible via smartphones and USSD technology, enabling over 40 million Ugandans to use a secure digital currency [4] - The project aligns with Uganda's Vision 2040 and the African Union's Agenda 2063, supporting the Karamoja Green Industrial and Special Economic Zone [5] Economic Impact - The project is expected to create over one million jobs and generate up to $10 billion in annual exports, positioning Uganda as a regional digital and industrial hub [6] - The integration of tokenization and CBDCs is anticipated to attract new capital and empower local industries, driving sustainable growth [6] Regional Context - Neighboring Kenya is advancing its own digital finance regulation with the Virtual Asset Service Providers (VASP) Bill, indicating a broader trend in East Africa towards regulated digital economies [2][7]

Core Insights - Chainlink's recent integration with SWIFT solidifies its role in the evolving blockchain infrastructure that is transforming global finance [1][2] Group 1: Integration and Functionality - Chainlink's SWIFT integration establishes a standardized framework for transferring digital assets between financial institutions, starting with tokenized funds [3] - The integration allows banks to manage on-chain assets using ISO 20022, the universal standard for interbank messaging [3][6] - The initial pilot focused on UBS Tokenize, but the platform's design allows for extension to other banks' tokenization systems like HSBC's Orion and JPMorgan's Kynexis [4] Group 2: Interoperability and Standards - Chainlink's cross-chain interoperability protocol (CCIP) enables communication between different blockchains, similar to how SWIFT facilitates interbank messaging [5] - The SWIFT integration translates ISO 20022 messages into blockchain-native calls, facilitating necessary actions across various tokenization engines [6] Group 3: Broader Adoption and Partnerships - As financial institutions adopt tokenization, they increasingly depend on Chainlink's infrastructure, which has partnered with major players like Intercontinental Exchange, Euroclear, and DTCC [8] - Chainlink is also involved in central bank digital currency (CBDC) pilots globally, including initiatives in Singapore, Hong Kong, and Brazil [9]