An interesting announcement relating to the payments industry has materialized from the World Economic Forum by the name of The Universal Digital Payments Network (UDPN).
The UDPN was launched to provide interoperability between regulated stablecoins and central bank digital currencies (CBDCs).
UDPN is an “advanced digital currency payments project” that “has the potential to drive down the cost of digital payments and accelerate adoption by banks and businesses of all sizes.”
The payment network has been developed in the last two years by decentralised cloud infrastructure company Red Date Technology, IT solutions provider GFT, TOKO and DLA Piper.
Red Date Technology is also known as the developer of the Blockchain-based Service Network (BSN), the China state-backed blockchain network.
The initiative has since been expanding overseas through cooperation with global enterprises on the international version of the network, BSN Spartan.
“The purpose of UDPN is to investigate a potential alternative to existing payments systems by enabling interoperability between fiat-backed tokens of stablecoins and regulated protocols,” comments Marika Lulay, CEO of GFT.
“The decentralised approach and geographic breadth of participating firms, combined with the advanced technological solution deployed for these trials, set this network apart.”