Scaling digital assets requires trusted, open and interoperable networks, said Leong Sing Chiong, Deputy Managing Director (Markets & Development) at the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS).

Speaking at the Layer One Summit during the Singapore Fintech Festival, Leong said that while digital asset activity is gaining pace, progress remains uneven, creating fragmentation that limits adoption.

He cited recent developments such as the GENIUS Act in the US, the Digital Euro’s next phase and SWIFT’s plans for a blockchain ledger.

Financial institutions, he added, are moving from pilots to live tokenisation projects, bridging traditional and digital finance.

“Technology has the potential to transform finance, but trust must underpin it,” Leong said, calling for shared standards and governance to achieve interoperability.

MAS Deepens Work on Project Guardian, BLOOM and the SGD Testnet

MAS is expanding Project Guardian to support cross-border applications of tokenised assets.

One initiative, Les Gardiennes, jointly led by the Banque de France and MAS with UBS and Société Générale-FORGE, is testing repo transactions using tokenised assets and digital money.

Two reports will also be released this week: an operational guide for tokenised funds and a joint study by the Investment Management Association of Singapore and the UK’s Investment Association on aligning digital assets with buy-side needs.

In payments, Leong highlighted BLOOM (Borderless, Liquid, Open, Online, Multi-currency), launched in October to advance tokenised deposits and regulated stablecoins for wholesale settlement.

The project brings together over 16 global banks, financial institutions and fintechs to create shared compliance and settlement frameworks.

He said MAS is considering a hybrid model that gives financial institutions access to wholesale central bank digital currency while ensuring interoperability between distributed ledger and traditional systems.

The Singapore Dollar (SGD) Testnet, a shared ledger for live trials of tokenised settlements, will focus on wholesale settlement activities and initially be open to a select group of market participants.

Leong also noted the Global Layer One (GL1) initiative, a public-private collaboration supported by MAS, the Bank of England, Banque de France, the European Central Bank and global financial institutions, which is developing interoperable infrastructures and compliance toolkits.

“Rather than racing ahead in isolation, we should also develop the connective tissue together,” Leong said.

“Let us work together to build a financial ecosystem as connected and interoperable as the world’s best airports. Not walled gardens.

Not proprietary silos. But open runways, where innovation can take flight, and markets can truly connect. ”

Featured image: Edited by Fintech News Singapore, based on image by user15041540 via Freepik