The testing phase, which follows a 12-week pilot that began in late 2022, originally concentrated on managing cross-border and domestic dollar transactions between banks.
Mastercard has partnered with leading U.S. banks such as Citigroup, Visa, and JPMorgan to explore distributed ledger technology for banking settlements through tokenization.
This initiative, dubbed the Regulated Settlement Network (RSN), aims to unify the settlement processes of diverse financial assets like Treasurys and investment-grade debt on a single platform.
By tokenizing these assets, RSN intends to streamline settlements on a shared ledger, enhancing efficiency across the system.
The testing phase, which follows a 12-week pilot that began in late 2022, originally concentrated on managing cross-border and domestic dollar transactions between banks.
The current focus has shifted to simulating settlements in U.S. dollars, looking to optimize the efficiency of cross-border transactions while minimizing risks like fraud and errors.
Mastercard’s Raj Dhamodharan emphasized the potential of this technology, stating, “application of shared ledger technology to dollar settlements could unlock the next generation of market infrastructures — where programmable settlements are 24/7 and frictionless.”
As part of the ongoing proof-of-concept trials, the RSN has welcomed new participants, including the USDF Consortium directly, and Tassat Group as a contributor.
Consulting firm Deloitte has also joined to provide advisory services, with the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association serving as the program manager.
In total, ten major banking institutions are involved in this pioneering effort, including Citi, JPMorgan, Mastercard, Swift, TD Bank N.A., U.S. Bank, USDF, Wells Fargo, Visa, and Zions Bancorp.
Additionally, six other entities such as the MITRE Corporation, BNY Mellon, Broadridge, the DTCC, ISDA, and Tassat Group will contribute their specialized knowledge to the project, aiming to reshape how financial transactions and settlements are conducted in the banking sector.