ANZ Joins Singapore's Project Guardian To Explore Asset Tokenization

According to Cointelegraph, Australia and New Zealand Banking Group (ANZ), one of Australia's major banks, has joined Singapore's Project Guardian to investigate the potential benefits of real-world asset (RWA) tokenization in financial markets. ANZ will collaborate with blockchain oracle firm Chainlink Labs and Singapore investment firm ADDX to test the interoperability of RWAs like commercial papers across different blockchains, as revealed in a statement on September 30. Project Guardian, initiated in 2022 by the Monetary Authority of Singapore, aims to enhance liquidity and efficiency in financial markets through RWA tokenization. Nigel Dobson, ANZ’s banking services lead, expressed the bank's interest in exploring the movement of its Australian dollar-backed A$DC stablecoin between blockchains. ANZ plans to utilize Chainlink’s Cross-Chain Interoperability Protocol (CCIP) to facilitate this process, according to Chainlink’s community liaison, Zach Rynes. Dobson highlighted that the current tokenized asset markets are highly fragmented, with most RWAs unable to move freely between blockchains without an interoperability protocol like Chainlink’s CCIP. This fragmentation can hinder adoption and complicate the integration process for financial institutions. ANZ will receive support from Project Guardian, leveraging its Singapore office for on-the-ground assistance. Previously, S&P Global, Deutsche Bank, and JPMorgan’s blockchain platform Onyx participated in Project Guardian’s pilot programs. Other participants include DBS Bank, SBI Digital Asset Holdings, and WisdomTree. The policymaker group for Project Guardian comprises government bodies from the United Kingdom, Japan, Singapore, Switzerland, and France, along with the International Monetary Fund.