BIS head describes ideal ‘unified ledger’ for central banks and other financial users
peaking in Singapore, Agustín Carstens described a ledger that would accommodate a variety of public and private projects in discrete but connectable parts. General manager of the Bank for International Settlements Agustín Carstens spoke at the Singapore FinTech Festival on Feb. 22 and described the digital financial infrastructure he believes would best suit central bankers’ needs. He called that infrastructure a “unified ledger.” Carstens compared the theoretical unified ledger with a smartphone, saying they both work seamlessly with a variety of components. Unlike a smartphone, a unified ledger would have open architecture, however, and would show programmability and composability, that it, it would run and bundle smart contracts. There are over 2 million apps available to smartphone users , Carstens noted. He said: “A unified ledger is a digital infrastructure with the potential to combine the monetary system with other registries of real and financial claims.” A unified ledg...