Mastercard has unveiled the latest step in its exploration of digital assets and blockchain technology, a ‘Multi-Token Network’ (MTN) that will act as a testbed for developing live pilots – beginning with tokenised bank deposits, according to Finextra.
Explaining the project, Mastercard blockchain and digital assets lead Raj Dhamodharan says in a blog post: “Our vision for MTN is to provide a set of foundational capabilities designed to make transactions within the digital asset and blockchain ecosystems secure, scalable and interoperable — ultimately enabling more efficient payment and commerce applications.”
The network will have four “pillars of trust”: trust in counterparty; trust in digital payment asset; trust in technology; and trust in consumer protections.
01 Trust in counterparty
Effective identity management and permissions are essential to building trusted networks. MTN will leverage Mastercard Crypto Credential, announced in April, to offer a set of common verification standards and infrastructure, in turn enabling trusted interactions among consumers and businesses using blockchain networks. Several partners are already working with us on an initial project to enable transfers on public chains, and our recent work in the Australian CBDC pilot uses the same technology to secure CBDC transactions.
02 – Trust in digital payment asset
Stable, regulated and scalable payment tokens are essential to powering payment applications. Last year, we tested the use of tokenized commercial bank deposits between several financial institutions, settling through our existing network. We also joined a group of market participants to explore a tokenized deposit platform through a concept called the Regulated Liability Network. MTN will support and complement these efforts by enabling regulated payment tokens to power financial applications.
03 – Trust in technology
Scalability of blockchain networks and interoperability among them are critical technologies required for safe transfers of tokens and assets. Our work with the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA), in partnership with Cuscal Payments and Mintable on its CBDC pilot, demonstrates how CBDCs issued by the RBA could be used to make seamless purchases of assets from allow-listed entities on the public blockchain. MTN aims to offer these capabilities across all supported payment tokens and networks in a scalable manner.
04 – Trust in consumer protections
MTN will draw on our years of experience developing standards and rules for our card network to provide a common framework for a community of users with shared interests. This includes clear rules of the road that prioritize strong consumer protections, stability and regulatory compliance.
A beta version of MTN is being made available in the UK and will be used for pilot applications and use cases with financial institutions, fintechs and central banks, beginning with the tokenised bank deposits exploration. The network will then be rolled out to other markets.
„MTN represents one of Mastercard’s most ambitious projects in the digital asset space to date. It is a natural evolution that demonstrates Mastercard’s commitment to offering a wider range of payment solutions that are safe, easy to access and always on. Our goal is to support the wider digital asset industry and interested parties to help fortify confidence in its future. We believe that digital asset and blockchain technologies today are on a similar trajectory, one day becoming critical infrastructure for storing and moving value.” – Raj Dhamodharan added.
Banking 4.0 – „how was the experience for you”
„So many people are coming here to Bucharest, people that I see and interact on linkedin and now I get the change to meet them in person. It was like being to the Football World Cup but this was the World Cup on linkedin in payments and open banking.”
Many more interesting quotes in the video below:
