MasterCard testing tokenized bank deposits in U.K. beta, CoinDesk reports

MasterCard is testing tokenized bank deposits through its “Multi-Token Network” in beta in the U.K., with plans to explore CBDCs and regulated stablecoins later, CoinDesk’s Ian Allison reports. “What powers the global economy today is regulated money in the banks,” said Raj Dhamodharan, head of crypto and blockchain at MasterCard, in an interview with CoinDesk. “So we’re starting with making tokenized bank deposits, so the unit of money in a bank account is a digital asset on the blockchain, bringing the same level of programmability to those as you find with digital currency in the crypto ecosystem.”