BASEL, Switzerland, May 11, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Under the theme of "Navigating Rapid Innovation," the prestigious Bank for International Settlements (BIS) Innovation Summit 2024 was convened in Basel, Switzerland on May 6-8, 2024 to discuss how technological innovation's intensified speed is offering increasing opportunities to the financial sector and to central banks, and how central banks are dealing with the risks that technological innovations may create. Gathering an assembly of global policymakers, senior executives from the financial and technology industries, and academics, the Summit boasted attendance from senior executives of institutions such as the Bank of France, Reserve Bank of India, Deutsche Bundesbank, Bank of Italy, Swiss National Bank, JPMorgan Chase & Co., Citi, UBS, HSBC, and London Stock Exchange Group, as well as scholars from prestigious higher learning institutions such as the University of Cambridge. Amidst this distinguished congregation, Shanghai Data Exchange was honored with an invitation to partake in the Summit, specifically engaging in the "Tokenisation" technical roundtable held on May 8th. This session featured prominent figures including the head of BIS Innovation Hub, representatives from the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System and the New York Innovation Center (NYIC) at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, and experts from the People's Bank of China, collectively examining the explorations and practical implementations of data asset financialization and tokenization.
In his opening remarks at the Summit, General Manager of the BIS, Agustín Carstens, underscored the imperative for central banks to support the development of a financial system fit for the future. He outlined a dual approach: small steps, such as tweaks and improvements to existing financial systems and infrastructures, paralleled by giant leaps that deliver a fundamental rethink of the financial system and foster the development of entirely new architectures. Mr. Carstens highlighted tokenization as a prime example of a technology with transformative potential for the financial system, capable of increasing the speed, lowering the cost and heightening the efficiency of financial transactions, provided it is used correctly.
Digital economy and fintech are progressively emerging as pivotal vectors of global financial innovation and competition within the digital epoch. In China, data factor is a new quality productive force, and China is the first country to list data as a new factor of production. In the process of data factor evolution, China has put forward the concept of data assets, and for the first time incorporated eligible data resources into balance sheets as assets. After the entry of data assets into the balance sheet, there is a natural demand for financialization.
During the Summit, Shanghai Data Exchange shared insights into the pioneering applications of data assets and engaged in discourse with international financial institution delegates concerning the evolving trends in financial technologies, such as smart contracts, tokenization, and Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDCs). At the "Tokenisation" technical roundtable held on May 8th, Liu Xiaoyu, the Assistant General Manager of Shanghai Data Exchange elucidated on the development of DCB (Data-Capital Bridge) infrastructure. Developed by Shanghai Data Exchange, this infrastructure links banks and companies. It provides functions such as asset registration, asset valuation, dynamic disclosure, and asset disposal. This system can comprehensively, dynamically, and accurately disclose the entire process of data asset formation. Over the past six months, Shanghai Data Exchange has successfully helped 10 companies obtain credit amounts totaling RMB 30 million.
In the future, Shanghai Data Exchange will establish a data asset trading market, especially exploring the possibility of tokenizing data assets. By using technologies such as blockchain and smart contracts to tokenize data assets, Shanghai Data Exchange aims to help companies obtain funding support from primary and secondary market investors.