DBS streamlines liquidity management with new blockchain token

Singaporean banking giant DBS (NASDAQ: DBSDY) has announced plans to commercially launch blockchain-based treasury tokens.  

The investment bank is proceeding with a pilot project and will team up with the Chinese-based Ant International to roll out the offering. Dubbed the “DBS Treasury Tokens,” the solution is expected to revolutionize liquidity management for global corporations while optimizing internal and external processes.

Treasury tokens are digital representations of an organization’s reserves and offer several use cases ranging from raising funds to performing corporate governance functions. The solution from DBS will be tailor-made to reduce settlement times for large-scale companies without compromising security standards. The blockchain-based treasury tokens will give corporate treasurers control over cash positions while facilitating interoperability between several jurisdictions.

DBS will rely on its permissioned blockchain while also leaning on Ant International’s Whale platform with its track record of commercial success. The liquidity management platform, featuring advanced encryption and AI, offers enterprises increased efficiency and transparency.

“This milestone with DBS is an important step forward in addressing challenges like reducing costs and transaction risks for cross-border payments,” said Kelvin Li, an executive at Ant International. “We have already seen successful use cases on our Whale platform in areas such as instant tax refund services and SME cross-border payments.”

DBS’ ledger features compatibility with the Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM) and can easily be incorporated into mainstream financial systems. Upon a commercial rollout, the treasury tokens can be used to reward users, raise funds, or stabilize token values depending on the needs of enterprises.

“DBS Treasury Tokens and our partnership with Ant International demonstrates how corporates can seize such opportunities with full confidence that their liquidity management capabilities can scale in tandem,” said Lim Soon Chong, Head of Global Transaction Services at DBS Bank.

The Project Guardian connection

Ant International and DBS have participated in several initiatives rolled out by the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) to explore the application of blockchain in payments. Both firms experimented with several projects under Project Guardian, with DBS throwing its weight into the tokenization of assets.

On the other hand, Ant International’s participation in the studies was limited to cross-border transactions, contributing its technical expertise to the experiments. Given its global reach, the Chinese-based firm collaborated with MAS to explore the regulatory implications of launching a regional blockchain-based payment solution.

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