Monetary Authority of Singapore "Global Layer 1 - The Foundation Layer of Financial Networks" White Paper

Organizer: Spinach Spinach

Preface: Perhaps many people have not noticed that the entire blockchain industry is undergoing an unprecedented transformation driven by the public sector, which will affect the future landscape of the entire financial and monetary system for humanity.

In June 2024, the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) officially released the white paper "Global Layer 1: Foundation Layer for Financial Networks," marking Singapore's establishment of an important "central bank blockchain." At the same time, the "currency bridge blockchain mBridge," jointly developed by the Bank for International Settlements, the People's Bank of China, and the Hong Kong Monetary Authority, has also entered the MVP stage and is publicly inviting international cooperation.

Prior to this, the Bank for International Settlements (BIS) published an article titled "Financial Internet (Finternet)" in April 2024, outlining the future blueprint and vision for tokenization and unified ledger, reflecting the central bank's attitude towards this transformation.

The author published a lengthy research report of 30,000 words titled "Future Blueprint for RWA Asset Tokenization: A Comprehensive Overview of Underlying Logic and Pathways for Large-Scale Application" in October 2023, which comprehensively explored the underlying logic of tokenization and its pathways for large-scale application. Friends who have read it carefully should know that it is not a research report on RWA projects in the crypto market, but rather an in-depth exploration of future development directions from the perspective of practical implementation.

In that article, the author's personal view is that the vast majority of real-world assets will be tokenized on permissioned chains with regulatory compliance frameworks in the future, forming a multi-chain interoperability pattern across different regulatory jurisdictions. In this pattern, on-chain legal currencies such as CBDCs and tokenized deposits will become the main currencies used.

From the MAS white paper, it can be observed that industry development seems to be moving in the direction predicted by the author. Based on this, the author also shares some personal views on the future evolution of the industry:

1. Although the scale of RWA is in the trillions, the RWA track will gradually evolve into a game for the powerful and traditional financial institutions, leaving little opportunity for pure Web3. The core is compliance + assets, with compliance set by the powerful and assets held by capitalists and financial institutions, while technology is not the moat of this track. Therefore, it seems that entrepreneurs in the RWA track only have two paths: "fully compliant" and "completely non-compliant."

2. Areas such as cross-border payments, international trade, and supply chain finance, which were previously considered the most promising fields for blockchain improvement and application, will have great opportunities for real-world application in this wave of global public-private sector mobilization. These areas also represent hundreds of billions to trillions in market scale, but they are also a track that relies on compliance and resources.

3. In the white paper, MAS clearly states that public chains are not suitable for regulated activities and are not suitable for regulated financial institutions. Currently, there is a lack of infrastructure suitable for financial institutions in the market. Therefore, the kind of future many people imagine, where trillions of assets are on-chain, may not necessarily be on a public chain. Moreover, some RWA investors' concerns stem from unknown risks, such as security risks, which are almost unavoidable in public chains. There is no accountability; if your money is stolen by hackers, you are powerless. Therefore, the author boldly predicts that public permissioned chains will experience exponential growth in the future, as clear legal regulations and accountability will dispel most investors' concerns.

4. In the white paper, the native token of Global Layer 1 is the central bank digital currency (CBDC), and stablecoins are not mentioned. From the author's observation, for central banks, CBDCs and tokenized bank deposits are the primary choices, while stablecoins are not prioritized due to structural flaws such as the inability to achieve "uniqueness" in currency and the risk of decoupling. However, does this mean that CBDCs will replace stablecoins in the future? Not necessarily, but it may present a pattern of "what belongs to God returns to God, what belongs to Caesar returns to Caesar." This is a very interesting topic, and the author may discuss it in detail in the future.

5. Chris Dixon, a partner at a16z, stated in his book "Read Write Own Building the Next Era of the Internet" that there are two different cultures in the industry: "computers" and "casinos," representing different development paths in the industry. "Computer culture" represents developers, entrepreneurs, and many visionaries who can place crypto in the broader historical context of the internet and understand the long-term technological significance of blockchain. On the other hand, "casino" culture focuses more on short-term gains and profiting from price fluctuations. The author's personal view is that as the industry develops, the benefits of wild growth will gradually disappear. While "casino" culture will always exist, there will be fewer opportunities for ordinary people, and people will increasingly focus on "computer" culture, genuinely promoting technological development and creating real value.

Many may have noticed that the author's update frequency has decreased, and the content is rarely market-related, but rather focuses on the trends in central bank development. This is because the author is currently participating in a series of pilot projects in collaboration with central banks alongside a startup team, with most energy devoted to entrepreneurial-related matters. Therefore, in the future, the author will continue to update similar content, which may not directly help you make money, but can help you understand the latest industry development trends from another perspective. The author believes that this content will attract many like-minded friends. Respect! Below is the main text of the white paper:

1. Introduction

The Global Layer 1 (GL1) initiative explores the development of a multifunctional shared ledger infrastructure based on distributed ledger technology (DLT), which is developed by regulated financial institutions for the financial industry. Our vision is to enable regulated financial institutions to deploy inherently interoperable digital asset applications across jurisdictions using this shared ledger infrastructure, managed by common asset standards, smart contracts, and digital identity technologies. Creating a shared ledger infrastructure will unlock liquidity that is dispersed across multiple locations and enable financial institutions to collaborate more effectively. Financial institutions can expand the services they offer to customers while reducing the costs of building their own infrastructure.

GL1 focuses on providing shared ledger infrastructure for financial institutions to develop, deploy, and use applications suitable for the financial industry's value chain, such as issuance, distribution, trading and settlement, custody, asset services, and payments. This can enhance cross-border payments as well as the cross-border distribution and settlement of capital market instruments. Establishing a financial institution alliance that utilizes DLT to address specific use cases such as cross-border payments is not a new development. The transformative potential of GL1's unique approach lies in developing a shared ledger infrastructure that can be used for different use cases and can support composable transactions involving various financial assets and applications while complying with regulatory requirements.

By leveraging the capabilities of a broader financial ecosystem, financial institutions can provide end-users with richer and broader services and bring them to market faster. GL1's shared ledger infrastructure will enable financial institutions to build and deploy composite applications, leveraging the capabilities of other application providers. This can manifest as institutional-level financial protocols that programmatically model and execute foreign exchange conversions and settlements. This, in turn, can improve the interaction of tokenized currencies and assets, achieving synchronized delivery versus payment (DvP) settlements of digital and other tokenized assets, as well as payment versus payment (PvP) settlements of foreign exchange conversions. Further extending this can support delivery versus payment versus payment (DvP vP), where the settlement chain can consist of a set of synchronized tokenized currencies and assets.

This document introduces the GL1 initiative and discusses the role of the shared ledger infrastructure, which will comply with applicable regulations and be managed by common technical standards, principles, and practices, allowing regulated financial institutions to deploy tokenized assets across jurisdictions. The participation of public and private sector stakeholders is crucial to ensuring that the shared ledger infrastructure is established in accordance with relevant regulatory requirements and international standards and meets market needs.

2. Background and Motivation

The traditional infrastructure supporting global financial markets was developed decades ago, resulting in isolated databases, different communication protocols, and the high costs associated with maintaining proprietary systems and custom integrations. While global financial markets remain robust and resilient, the demands of the industry have become more complex and scaled. Simply upgrading existing financial infrastructure may not be sufficient to keep pace with the complexity and speed of change.

As a result, financial institutions are turning to technologies such as distributed ledger technology (DLT), which has the potential to modernize market infrastructure and provide more automated and cost-effective models. Notably, industry participants have separately launched their own digital asset initiatives. However, they have chosen different technologies and vendors for their respective initiatives, which limits interoperability.

The limitations of interoperability between systems have led to market fragmentation, with liquidity being trapped between different locations due to incompatible infrastructure. Holding liquidity in different locations can increase funding and opportunity costs. Moreover, the proliferation of different infrastructures and the lack of globally recognized classifications and standards related to digital assets and DLT have increased adoption costs, as financial institutions need to invest in and support different types of technologies.

To achieve seamless cross-border transactions and fully realize the value of DLT, compliant infrastructure designed around openness and interoperability is needed. Infrastructure providers should also understand the applicable laws and regulations related to the issuance and transfer of tokenized financial assets, as well as the regulatory treatment of products created under different tokenization structures.

The BIS's recent working paper outlines the vision of the "Financial Internet" (Finternet) and "Unified Ledger," further supporting the role of tokenization and its applications in cross-border payments and securities settlement. If managed properly, an open and interconnected financial ecosystem can improve access to and efficiency of financial services through better financial process integration.

Despite the good progress made in experiments and pilots for asset tokenization, the lack of financial networks and technological infrastructure suitable for financial institutions to execute digital asset transactions limits their ability to deploy tokenized assets at a commercial scale. Therefore, market participation and secondary trading opportunities for tokenized assets remain relatively low compared to traditional markets.

The following paragraphs will discuss two network models commonly used by financial institutions today, as well as a third model that combines the openness of Model 1 with the protections of Model 2.

Model 1: Public Permissionless Blockchain

Currently, public permissionless blockchains attract a large number of applications and users because they are designed to be open and accessible to all parties. Essentially, they are similar to the internet, with public networks capable of exponential growth because no approval is required before participating in the network. Therefore, public permissionless blockchains have significant potential network effects. By building on shared and open infrastructure, developers can leverage existing capabilities without having to rebuild similar infrastructure themselves.

Public permissionless networks were not originally designed for regulated activities. They are essentially autonomous and decentralized. There is no legal entity responsible for these networks, nor are there enforceable service level agreements (SLAs) regarding performance and resilience (including network risk mitigation), and there is a lack of certainty and guarantees in transaction processing.

Due to the lack of clear accountability, the anonymity of service providers, and the absence of service level agreements, these networks cannot be applied to regulated financial institutions without additional protections and controls. Furthermore, the legal considerations and general guidelines regarding the use of such blockchains are also unclear. These factors make it difficult for regulated financial institutions to utilize them.

Model 2: Private Permissioned Blockchain

Some financial institutions have determined that the currently existing public permissionless blockchains cannot meet their needs. Therefore, many financial institutions choose to establish independent private permissioned networks and their ecosystems.

These private permissioned networks incorporate technical features that allow them to implement rules, procedures, and smart contracts according to applicable laws and regulatory frameworks. They are also designed to ensure resilience in the face of malicious behavior.

However, the proliferation of private and permissioned networks, if they cannot interoperate with each other, may lead to greater fragmentation of wholesale funding market liquidity in the long run. If not addressed, fragmentation will reduce the network effects of financial markets and may create friction for market participants, such as inaccessibility, increased liquidity requirements due to the separation of liquidity pools, and price arbitrage across networks.

Model 3: Public Permissioned Blockchain

Public permissioned networks allow any entity that meets participation criteria to participate, but the types of activities participants can engage in on the network are restricted. Public permissioned networks operated by financial institutions for the financial services industry can achieve the advantages of open and accessible networks while minimizing risks and concerns.

Such networks will be built on principles of openness and accessibility similar to those of the public internet, but with built-in protections for serving as value exchange networks. For example, the governance rules of the network may limit membership to regulated financial institutions. Transactions can be supplemented by privacy-enhancing technologies such as zero-knowledge proofs and homomorphic encryption. Although the concepts of public and permissioned networks are not new, there are no precedents for such networks being provided at scale by regulated financial institutions.

The GL1 initiative will explore and consider various network models, including the concept of public permissioned infrastructure in the context of relevant regulatory requirements. For example, regulated financial institutions could operate nodes of GL1, and participants on the GL1 platform would undergo Know Your Customer (KYC) checks. The following sections will describe how GL1 operates in practice.

The GL1 initiative aims to facilitate the development of a shared layer infrastructure for hosting tokenized financial assets and financial applications along the financial value chain.

GL1's infrastructure will be agnostic to asset types; it will support tokenized assets and tokenized currencies issued by network users (e.g., regulated financial institutions) across different jurisdictions and different currency denominations. This can simplify processing flows, support automated instant cross-border fund transfers, and facilitate simultaneous foreign exchange (FX) swaps and securities settlements based on predefined conditions.

The infrastructure will be developed by financial institutions for the financial services industry and will serve as a platform providing the following functionalities:

1. Cross-application synchronization
2. Composability
3. Privacy protection
4. Intrinsic application compatibility with assets that have been tokenized and/or issued on the infrastructure

The GL1 operating company will act as a technology provider and public infrastructure provider across markets and jurisdictions. To facilitate the development of a solutions ecosystem, GL1 will also support regulated financial institutions in building, operating, and deploying applications on a common digital infrastructure covering the following:

• Transaction lifecycle (primary issuance, trading, settlement, payment, collateral management, corporate actions, etc.)
• Issuance and trading of different asset types (e.g., cash, securities, alternative assets)

3.1 Key Objectives

To realize the vision of creating more efficient clearing and settlement solutions and unlocking new business models through programmability and composability, the GL1 initiative will focus on the following areas: a) Supporting the creation of multifunctional networks. b) Enabling the deployment of various applications ranging from payments and capital raising to secondary trading. c) Providing an infrastructure for hosting and executing transactions involving tokenized assets, which are digital representations of value or rights that can be electronically transferred and stored. Tokenized assets can span across asset classes (such as stocks, fixed income, fund shares, etc.) or currencies (such as commercial bank money, central bank money). d) Encouraging the formulation and establishment of internationally recognized common principles, policies, and standards to ensure interoperability of tokenized assets and applications developed on and for GL1 across international and cross-network contexts.

3.2 Design Principles

To achieve the goal of GL1 serving the needs of the financial industry, the foundational digital infrastructure of GL1 will be developed according to the following set of principles:

• Open and standards-based: Technical specifications will be public and open, allowing members to easily build and deploy applications. Where appropriate, industry standards and open-source protocols (for payment messages and tokens) may be used. If existing standards have not been developed or are insufficient, appropriate efforts will be made to ensure flexibility in design and to propose or incorporate future standards.
• Compliance with applicable regulations and openness to regulators: The GL1 platform will comply with applicable laws and regulatory requirements. Policy controls for specific jurisdictions should be developed at the application layer and not built into the GL1 platform. Legal and regulatory requirements applicable to members or end-users may depend on an analysis of the business applications, services, and the location of the members or end-users.
• Good governance: Appropriate governance, operational arrangements, membership agreements, and rules will be clear and transparent to ensure clear boundaries of responsibility and accountability.
• Neutrality: The design should prevent the concentration or aggregation of control by any single entity or related group of entities within a geographic area. Key operational decisions, including technology choices, will be based on (among other factors) technical merits and evaluated by members.
• Commercial fairness: Financial institutions should be able to compete fairly on the GL1 platform. The GL1 operating company will not make decisions aimed at unfairly benefiting one financial institution over others.
• Accessible both functionally and economically: Financial institutions meeting membership criteria will be eligible to participate. Membership criteria, operational costs, and fees will be designed to promote the integrity, stability, and sustainability of the network.
• Financial self-sufficiency: The GL1 platform can operate as an industry utility. Revenue, including subscription fees and transaction fees, will be used for operational costs and reinvestment (such as enhancements and technology research and development) to ensure the ongoing sustainability of GL1.

3.3 Architecture Overview

The architecture of GL1 can be described as a foundational layer within a four-layer conceptual model of a digital asset platform. This four-layer model was first introduced in the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) "Project Guardian - Open and Interoperable Networks" and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) "ASAP: Conceptual Model for Digital Asset Platforms" working paper.

Although still under consideration, the anticipated interactions of GL1 with other component layers can be described as follows:

1. Access Layer The access layer refers to how end-users access various digital services built around the GL1 platform. Each service provider will be responsible for: a) Providing wallet functionality that meets GL1 standards; b) Conducting KYC checks on their respective customers; c) Accessing, authorizing, and exiting their direct customers; d) Serving their own customers. It is assumed that non-designated financial institutions can access GL1's services, but they must first access through designated financial institutions.
2. Service Layer Regulated financial institutions and trusted third parties that meet participation standards should be able to build and deploy application services on the GL1 platform, such as interbank transfers and collateral management. Participating financial institutions need to adhere to the settlement functionality standards defined by GL1, including: Delivery versus Payment (FoP), Payment versus Payment (PvP), Delivery versus Payment (DvP), and Delivery versus Delivery (DvD). Service providers may also develop their own smart contract logic not included in the GL1 default software library.
3. Asset Layer The asset layer will support the local issuance of cash, securities, and other assets, as well as the tokenization of existing physical or simulated assets. Supported asset types may include cash and cash equivalents, stocks, fixed income, commodities, derivatives, alternative assets, fund shares, letters of credit, bills of exchange, asset reference tokens, and other tokens. Assets on GL1 will be deployed in tokenized form and should be designed to be technically interoperable across multiple GL1 applications and service providers.
4. Platform Layer (Global Layer 1) GL1 will provide infrastructure components for the platform layer, which includes blockchain infrastructure (including ledgers and consensus mechanisms), libraries and templates, data standards, and platform-wide services. The infrastructure for record-keeping will be separate from the application layer, ensuring that assets on the GL1 platform are compatible across multiple applications, even if those applications are provided by different entities. The GL1 platform will include standardized protocols for consensus and synchronization mechanisms to facilitate asset transfers and cross-application communication. The platform will also ensure privacy, permission management, and data isolation from other applications and participants.

Under GL1, entities acting as validators and ensuring the integrity of recorded transactions will need to adhere to the technical risk management controls of the financial sector, including business continuity plans and cybersecurity protection procedures. In return for their efforts, validators can be compensated through transaction fees paid in advance or deferred recurring payments based on subscription fees.

To ensure compatibility with other layers in the stack, the GL1 platform will follow a defined set of data and operational standards (assets, tokens, wallets, etc.) and include core functionalities, common libraries, and business logic (access, smart contracts, workflows) that can be utilized as optional "starter kits."

4. Potential Uses of GL1

GL1 will be designed to support a variety of use cases and will be agnostic to asset types. It will support all regulated financial assets, tokenized central bank currencies, and commercial bank currencies on a shared ledger infrastructure. Participating central banks may also issue central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) as common settlement assets.

For GL1, any financial institution that meets the minimum applicable standards and passes the due diligence process can participate and use GL1 services without the approval of a central governing body. However, only licensed parties can build and deploy commercial applications on the GL1 platform, and they must comply with GL1's data and security standards. The permitted activities conducted by financial institutions will be proportionate to their risk profiles and their ability to mitigate associated risks.

Preliminary identified use cases include cross-border payments and the cross-border distribution and settlement of capital market instruments on the digital asset network. Table 3 provides examples of potential uses of GL1.

The examples included in this document are for illustrative purposes only and should not be considered formal opinions applicable to all use cases on the GL1 platform.

Value Proposition of GL1

By introducing digital asset applications and regulated financial institution participants into a shared ledger infrastructure, the financial industry is expected to realize the advantages of digital assets and potentially accelerate the modernization of traditional market infrastructure significantly. Table 4 describes some potential value propositions of GL1.

5. Operational Model

In practice, multiple financial applications and networks can be established using the GL1 platform. The financial networks defined here refer to alliances composed of a group of financial institutions that agree to transact using a common set of business arrangements and governance rules that specify the responsibilities and obligations of each party in a transaction.

Financial networks can be organized around specific use cases. For example, a financial network may consist of applications focused on cross-border payments. At the same time, other financial networks may focus on use cases such as cash and securities settlement.

Financial networks can also include different types of tokenized assets. Some financial networks may focus on using wholesale central bank digital currencies (CBDCs), while others explore the use of central bank money and commercial bank money on shared ledgers. Financial networks can also span multiple use cases and jurisdictions; for example, the MAS's Project Guardian wholesale network will include applications supporting foreign exchange swaps, fixed income, and asset and wealth management tokenized products.

Although each financial network is or will be independently governed and have different characteristics, the potential to extend the coverage of a single financial network may be a significant motivation for them to choose a common infrastructure. By using the same shared ledger infrastructure, tokenized assets can be transferred between different financial networks, and new applications can be composed by building applications that originate from multiple financial networks.

In some cases, financial institutions may not be able to transact on networks based on shared ledger infrastructure but can resolve this by interconnecting financial networks based on different ledger technologies. The advantages and disadvantages of interconnected networks are detailed in the MAS's "Project Guardian - Interlinking Networks" technical white paper. For further considerations on extending networks, refer to the paper "Open and Interoperable Networks of Project Guardian."

As a regulated financial services platform, some activities on the GL1 platform may be restricted and only allowed for designated service providers. Relevant operators are expected to define rulebooks and specify the types of permitted activities. For example, all participants may initiate transactions, but only designated financial institutions can deploy smart contracts. Additional controls may be defined at various network and application levels, and access to specific functionalities may be limited to selected parties that have undergone necessary screening or certification processes.

Settlement Arrangements The GL1 platform can support clearing and settlement functionalities for payments, securities, and other financial transactions provided by financial market infrastructure (FMI) operators. The GL1 operating company can serve as a technology infrastructure provider for FMI operators when establishing the GL1 platform. FMI can still play a key role in the value chain, but functions traditionally performed by specific types of FMI or critical service providers (CSPs) may be reorganized.

For example, under existing arrangements, transaction execution, clearing, and settlement functions are performed by different systems operated by different parties. When payments are made through a standalone system, ownership of securities is transferred, and records at the central securities depository (CSD) are updated.

Using GL1, this coordination can be automated through smart contracts. In the new arrangement, cash and securities transactions will be hosted and executed on the same shared ledger infrastructure. This means that cash and securities can be exchanged simultaneously, and either the cash or securities transaction will succeed, or both will fail. This arrangement will minimize the impact on the system in the event of counterparty default.

Settlement Finality A key requirement in the design of GL1 is the platform's ability to support settlement finality, meaning the ability to clearly define when a settlement becomes irrevocable and unconditional. In a distributed network, this is not straightforward, as multiple validating nodes will simultaneously verify transactions and update records. To ensure consistency between the ledger operation phase and the transfer being regarded as having settlement finality, selecting an appropriate algorithm for achieving consensus on the ledger state will be an important design decision.

In the case of GL1, it is assumed that a deterministic consensus algorithm is needed to support settlement finality. For example, it can be defined by FMI operators that once a predetermined number of validating nodes operated by designated financial institutions reach consensus on the ledger state, the settlement is considered final and irrevocable. For completeness, FMI operators utilizing the GL1 platform should be aware of the relevant regulatory regimes applicable to settlement finality.

Organizational and Regulatory Oversight As designed, the GL1 operating company may operate within the markets and jurisdictions where participating financial institutions operate. Depending on the specific arrangements between the GL1 operating company and participating financial institutions, and requiring commercial and legal analysis, the GL1 infrastructure and its operating company may be regarded as FMI and/or critical service providers in certain jurisdictions where they operate.

Operating companies and participating financial institutions need to consider and manage potential risk factors. These risks include credit, liquidity risks, and operational risks, the impact of loss or delay in accessing the GL1 platform, and take appropriate measures to mitigate the impact of systemic downtime. Environmental, social, and governance risks also need to be considered.

Depending on the organizational form and settlement arrangements, financial institutions utilizing the GL1 platform may also be subject to different applicable licensing and regulatory requirements. Further commercial, legal, and governance analysis is needed to determine the responsibilities and accountability of the GL1 operating company in relation to settlement arrangements with FMI operators in participating jurisdictions.

In this regard, the GL1 operating company will collaborate with relevant stakeholders (including supervisory authorities) to ensure the rule of law is maintained in the GL1 infrastructure.

Future Work Since its establishment in November 2023, the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) and participating financial institutions have been discussing and generating insights and ideas regarding the GL1 shared ledger infrastructure. Among the topics discussed, participating financial institutions considered the following:

Potential business use cases to be deployed on the GL1 platform, such as domestic and cross-border payments, primary issuance of securities and other financial instruments, collateral management, and securities settlement.

Alignment of GL1's governance model, requiring the operation of GL1 as an independent legal entity in the form of an operating company, as well as a non-profit organization focused on governance principles, standards, and best practices.

Preliminary assessments of policies, risks, and legal considerations for providing services.

Preliminary assessments and recommendations regarding the applicability of existing distributed ledger technology (DLT) based on potential business needs to develop GL1.

In the next phase, GL1 will take a dual approach to facilitate its development. GL1 will explore establishing a non-profit organization to formulate common principles, policies, and standards for operating GL1. This will complement the independent operating company that may be established in the future to build and deploy GL1 infrastructure.

The development of governance and operational models may include considerations of member types and distribution, target operating models, expected operational costs, proposed fee structures, estimated revenues, and the cost neutrality of entities reaching breakeven. It may also extend to preliminary assessments of potential solution options and technical design considerations for implementing GL1.

Existing distributed ledger technologies are expected to be utilized, with further potential enhancements to support the specific needs of GL1.

Conclusion GL1 is expected to be a multi-year initiative aimed at establishing foundational digital infrastructure capable of shaping the future of financial networks. When this vision is realized, it could fundamentally change the way asset lifecycles and capital markets operate. Achieving this potential will require unprecedented multilateral cooperation across jurisdictions, including participation from both the private and public sectors, which has not been seen since the advent of the internet.

The power of uniting networks of global banks, public sector authorities, and international organizations is evident: the initiative welcomes contributions from the international community to advance the development of GL1 as foundational digital infrastructure supporting the transformation of the financial industry.