DBS Bank Powers Blockchain Grants Pilot

The blockchain-based approach expands upon DBS Bank’s involvement in Project Orchid, an MBS experiment that examines tokenization’s potential advantages.

DBS Bank in Singapore has introduced a blockchain-based solution to expedite government grant disbursement.

DBS Bank said it worked with the Singapore Fintech Association (SFA), which advances financial technology in the nation, and Enterprise Singapore (ESG), a statutory board under the Ministry of Trade and Industry of the Government of Singapore.

DBS Bank uses smart contracts to distribute government grants.

The SFA awarded 27 members government grants throughout the experiment. According to DBS, the trial demonstrated how programmable grants based on blockchain technology may boost governance, increase efficiency, and give companies quicker access to government funding.

ESG and its intermediaries, such as the SFA, may control grant disbursements and program conditions thanks to DBS’s permissioned blockchain. DBS claims that this includes payments to beneficiaries who have been approved after meeting specific requirements.

Smart contracts will confirm that the requirements have been met after they have been satisfied. Following this procedure, the grantees will automatically get their grants.

DBS claims that the technology lessens the requirement for intermediaries to perform manual cash processing and improves governance control. This enables companies to get their government cash payouts far more quickly.

Additionally, the procedure is evident on the bank’s permissioned blockchain, providing the participating organizations with increased transparency.

Blockchains with permissioned access control allow users to access the network with pre-approved permissions. These blockchains, albeit using distributed ledger technology, are only partly decentralized.

Outcomes of Project Orchid, led by MAS

Additionally, according to DBS Bank, the programmable grants trial incorporates the lessons the company learned from participating in Project Orchid, the Monetary Authority of Singapore’s (MAS) digital currency effort. The program involves local stakeholders in testing the advantages of tokenization.

Additionally, DBS Bank and digital payment company Ant International have worked together in the past on a blockchain-based liquidity management and treasury solution. Ant will employ DBS’s treasury tokens, introduced on August 13th, for treasury management and liquidity. The tokens are stored on the permissioned Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM) blockchain owned by the bank.

Systems built during the company’s involvement in Project Guardian, another MAS-led initiative on digital currencies, were used to produce the solution.