DBS Bank launches blockchain-powered treasury tokens pilot

Multinational banking and financial services company DBS Bank collaborated with digital payment provider Ant International on a new blockchain-based treasury and liquidity management solution. 

On Aug. 13, DBS Bank announced the pilot launch of DBS Treasury Tokens, which Ant International will use for instant and multicurrency treasury and liquidity management.

The new DBS Treasury Tokens to be used by Ant International exist on DBS’ permissioned blockchain for its entities across multiple markets.

DBS integrates EVM-compatible permissioned blockchain

Permissioned blockchains, also called “private blockchains,” are networks with an access control layer. This adds a security mechanism that only allows participants in the blockchain to have certain levels of pre-approved authority. Users need permission from the network owner to join the network. While permissioned blockchains use distributed ledger technology (DLT), they are only partially decentralized.

According to DBS, its permissioned blockchain is compatible with the Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM) and is integrated with the bank’s core payments engine. This development enhances the system’s extensibility and interoperability with various industry payment infrastructures connected to DBS.

The Singapore-based bank also noted that the blockchain has been integrated with Ant International’s treasury management platform, Whale. This allows the company to manage its intragroup liquidity without interruption, which DBS believes optimizes workflow and visibility.

In addition to blockchain technology, Ant’s Whale platform uses artificial intelligence and encryption to enhance the transparency and efficiency of fund transfers between bank accounts.

Testing the benefits of tokenization

The announcement noted that the DBS Treasury Tokens project applies the company’s learnings and systems developed from participating in the Monetary Authority of Singapore’s (MAS) Project Orchid and Project Guardian, which tests the benefits of tokenization.

According to DBS, the Treasury Tokens are one of the applications tested under Project Guardian.

DBS Bank’s group head of global transaction services, Lim Soon Chong, said that the new project is solving an urgent need due to the rise of e-commerce and on-demand services. The executive said:

“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.”

The executive added that DBS’ permissioned blockchain also forms the foundation for new efficiencies and capabilities in traditional banking services, including “programmable, fractionalized and atomic value transfer.”