Singapore may push envelope as CBDCs gain currency

SINGAPORE may "soon hear about the commercial launch of a multi-currency payment system for digital currencies", said a senior official of the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) in a LinkedIn post this week.

This comes amid strong rising interest in central bank digital currencies, or CBDCs. China is reportedly aiming to be the first major central bank to issue a CBDC.

The Bank of Japan has also joined other major central banks, including the US Federal Reserve and the European Central Bank, to look at how such digital currencies backed by central banks can speed up cross-border payments.