Programmable money means embedding rules within the medium of exchange itself that defines its usage. These rules are retained even when the money is transferred. Why is this useful? Take for example, donations to charity. With programmable money, we can have better assurance that donations reach their intended beneficiaries and the funds are used for their intended purposes. We can programme the beneficiaries and purposes into the money itself. The programmability comes from tokenising the money and placing it on a distributed ledger. There are four options for programmable money: cryptocurrencies, stablecoins, tokenised bank deposits, and central bank digital currencies or CBDCs. Cryptocurrencies are a non-starter. They have performed poorly as a medium of exchange as well as a store of value. Given its volatility and speculative nature, cryptocurrencies do not hold promise to serve as money in the first place. Stablecoins are more promising. If well-regulated and securely backed by reserves – as per MAS' latest proposed regulations – they combine the benefits of stability and programmability. But their pervasive take-up remains to be seen. Tokenised bank deposits are digital representation of commercial banks' deposits that can be used as digital cash to make payments or buy and sell digital assets without going through the banking system. CBDCs, as direct liabilities of the central bank, marry the advantages of central bank issued cash with the advantages of the blockchain. They are essentially digital, programmable versions of cash. Where does MAS stand with respect to these four forms of programmable money?
Two, develop standards to support the atomic settlement of currency transactions across platforms using distributed ledger technology and non-DLT based platforms. Three, establish policy guidelines for the connectivity of digital currency infrastructure across borders, for better access and participation. Through Ubin+, MAS will also collaborate with international partners to explore a broader range of atomic settlement solutions. MAS is working with the central banks of France and Switzerland and the BIS Innovation Hub to explore the exchange and settlement of wholesale CBDCs with an automated market maker. An automated market maker will enable the exchange and settlement of two or more digital assets to be performed automatically with a smart contract. MAS is also partnering SWIFT to explore different interoperability models, to enable instant cross-border payment and settlement across DLT-based systems and existing payment infrastructures. 4/11  BIS - Central bankers' speeches  RESHAPING LIKE FIRE - PROGRAMMABLE MONEY (PROJECT ORCHID) The third desired outcome is programmable money. Money today exists in two forms: physical cash in the form of central bank issued notes and coins; and digital money in the form of deposits with commercial banks. Digital money accounts for 92% of money supply in Singapore and has been designed efficiently and elegantly to suit our large variety of daily needs. Payment to merchants, account-to-account transfers, setting up timed or regular payments, can all be made with just a few taps on your mobile phone today. So what is the problem with money that we are trying to solve? Money today is not programmable.