Digital Currency Monetary Authority launches an international CDBC

The Digital Currency Monetary Authority (DCMA) has launched an international CDBC that complies with IMF-proposed crypto assets policy recommendations.

The Universal Monetary Unit (UMU) is legally a money commodity that can transact in any legal tender settlement currency. It also functions like a CBDC when it comes to enforcing banking regulations and protecting the financial integrity of the international banking system according to prnewswire.com. 

This international CBDC allows banks to attach SWIFT Codes and bank accounts to a UMU digital currency wallet with the purpose of conducting cross-border payments over digital currency rails that bypass the correspondent banking system. This method is available at wholesale FX rates and supports instant real-time settlements. 

As for regulation, UMU uses a global localisation public monetary system architecture, which means that it can be configured to operate according to the central banking regulations of each participating jurisdiction. 

Financial Counsellor at the International Monetary Fund, Tobias Adrian, cited by prnewswire.com, talked about the risks, high cost, and low speeds of cross-border payments and how counterparties in different jurisdictions usually leverage costly trusted relationships to counteract the lack of a common settlement asset together with common rules and governance. He also emphasised the need for a multilateral platform that could improve cross-border payments while transforming foreign exchange transactions, risk sharing, and financial contracting. 

DCMA officials cited by the same source expressed that UMU is not trying to disrupt the international monetary system but to improve it by helping the IMF achieve its stated mandate to provide economic and financial stability to its member states. They also talked about how UMU changes the way cross-border payments are transacted and minimises the effects of seasonal and systemic local currency depreciation.

Proposed Universal Monetary Unit Model legislation

Several sovereign states have worked together to draft a Universal Monetary Unit Model Law. The legislation mandates that UMU should not be used as a legal tender for negotiating domestic prices or international trade agreements. UMU should be used as a complementary money commodity for the store of value. This way, it could protect against potential seasonal and systemic local currency depreciation. 

UMU incorporates a trusted consensus protocol, namely Staked Proof of Trust (SPOT) Protocol, as well as a multi-dimensional DLT (mDLT) capable of supporting any asset or liability ledger enabling full-service digital banking and international trade payments. 

Merchants and trading partners could accept this international CBDC for the equivalent market value of their goods and services. That’s because UMU’s wallet includes premium exchange rates and can convert any settlement currency amount to the equivalent UMU amount.