It will be possible for instant payments to be made 24 hours a day within 10 seconds from debiting the payer’s account to crediting the payee’s account and receipt of confirmation by the payer. Instant payments will be settled applying the widely used in Europe pre-funding model. It requires a special account with the central bank, intended only for settlement of instant payments. All banks are expected to be able to receive instant payments by April 2023. Meanwhile, as a next stage of the same project, the preparation for processing of customer batch credit transfers in the national currency is underway. These payments are based on the requirements of the SEPA Credit Transfer scheme. Customer transfers will be send by the originator bank in batches for processing by BISERA6 and the pre-funding model will be used for their settlement. This will speed up customer payments that will be credited to the payee account 1/2  BIS central bankers' speeches  within less than an hour. Banks in Bulgaria are expected to migrate from credit transfers with predefined moment of settlement (three times a day), to processing of batch payments by the end of 2021. Preparation of the payment service providers and payment infrastructure for processing instant payments and customer batch payments in the national currency based on SEPA credit transfer schemes would allow, upon the adoption of the euro as a legal tender in the country, for smooth transition of the services without major modifications of the payment systems and banks’ internal systems.
There have been some unsavoury practices in this space: “flash loans” being used to manipulate prices in the market; bots being used to front-run retail trades. With decentralised governance, who do you approach to recover lost accounts or reverse accidental transfers of money? Existing regulatory frameworks will need to be adapted if DeFi becomes a reality. Regulations crafted to manage risks in a world of intermediaries are ill-suited where intermediaries are replaced by smart contracts. Enforcement is more challenging when control or governance is dispersed across the blockchain. MAS will follow Web 3.0 and DeFi developments closely, deepen our understanding, and seek to harness the benefits while managing the risks. We will work with both the financial industry and the broader ecosystem to find the right balance. It will be a learning journey. Regulatory Sandbox Plus And what better way to learn than by experimenting? We will facilitate experiments for blockchain and DeFi innovation through regulatory sandboxes. Five years ago, MAS launched the FinTech Regulatory Sandbox, to support live experimentation of technology innovations. Two years ago, we enhanced it with Sandbox Express, so that businesses can begin market testing of low risk activities in a pre-defined environment faster. MAS will enhance its regulatory sandbox with Sandbox Plus.We will broaden participation to early adopters of technology, in addition to first movers. We will provide financial grants to first movers of innovation, to support their technology, human capital, and market development.