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The Asian Development Bank (ADB) is looking is looking for a service partner to implement a digital currency platform with both online and offline capabilities. This platform will support financial inclusion in remote areas with limited internet access and offer an alternative payment method for various users. The project will focus on deploying a modular, "token-based" architecture with programmable infrastructure to facilitate peer-to-peer transactions, strengthen financial resilience, and promote innovation across sectors. The outcome of this project will be an ADB-owned digital asset that can be utilized across its member countries.

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has launched a project to develop ways to directly connect central banks and securities depositories in the ASEAN+3 region within a blockchain network. The region consists of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations plus Japan, the People's Republic of China, and the Republic of Korea. ADB is partnering with ConsenSys, Fujitsu, R3, and Soramitsu on the project, which will also examine systems interoperability and the viability of central bank digital currency (CBDC) in the region.

In January 2022, the Asian Development Bank (ADB) launched a project to make cross-border securities transactions more efficient and secure through the use of blockchain technology. Project Tridecagon proved that the deployment of DLT/BC solutions for the settlement of cross-border securities transactions is possible, particularly in a well-governed and functionally well-defined environment.

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) published a paper that outlines why regulators urgently to adapt and adopt flexible policies that improve oversight of emerging products and providers. It sketches out the fintech landscape and explains how economies can encourage innovation while increasing international cooperation to insulate against the growing financial, operational, and cybersecurity risks the new technology brings.

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) published a brief that shows how various jurisdictions and national standard-setting organizations are drawing up their own guidelines to define and regulate digital and crypto-assets. It highlights the comprehensive and tech-agnostic principles devised by the International Institute for the Unification of Private Law (UNIDROIT), explains how they treat existing and emerging digital assets, and why they could make transactions safer and more efficient.

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) completed its Project Tridecagon proof-of-concept (PoC) probing into the viability of cross-border delivery-versus-payment (DVP) bond settlements using blockchain technology. It connected key market infrastructures: central banks' real-time gross settlement systems (RTGS) and central securities depositories' (CSD) book-entry systems, but did not use central bank digital currency (CBDC). The settlement of cross-border securities transactions was proven in principle and across different vendor solutions, but full application may depend on necessary changes to legal and regulatory prescriptions which could take years.

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) published a paper that explores the potential for central bank digital currency (CBDC) to help promote financial inclusion. It considers how CBDC could leverage digital finance technologies and enhance the reach and value of formal financial products and services among the unbanked or underserved. It also looks at the challenges involved and how these could be addressed. The paper provides recommendations for policy makers and regulators on designing CBDCs, establishing preconditions, and managing risk.

This Asian Development Bank (ADB) report ascertains the current status of technology adoption, including wholesale CBDC applications, by its Cross-Border Settlement Infrastructure Forum member organizations. They include central securities depositories and central banks in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) plus the People's Republic of China, Japan, and the Republic of Korea (collectively known as ASEAN+3) region.

"Our results show that effective governance institutions are associated with a less restrictive regulatory stance on cryptocurrency, whereas financial openness is not found to be significant. The results imply that a certain level of institutional quality may be necessary before opening up to new forms of financial technology. As cryptocurrency is recognized as a risky speculative financial instrument, its current state of many unknowns can prevent policy makers from conducting a thorough surveillance to avoid system-wide vulnerabilities."

P2P lending is a booming sector in Indonesia's rapidly growing fintech industry, representing 43% of the country's fintech companies, according to a paper by the Asian Development Bank Institute.

This paper by a Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) staffer sheds light on Australia's fast real-time retail payments system, the New Payments Platform (NPP). It concludes that there is no strong case for the RBA to issue a retail central bank digital currency given that the NPP and the safer Next Generation Banknote series.

The Bank of Thailand launched the Project Inthanon and Project DLT scripless bond initiatives in 2018. Project Inthanon is a proof-of-concept for wholesale domestic and cross-border funds transfer using central bank digital currency. The Project DLT scripless bond is an initiative to increase efficiency for the saving bond registration and sales processes.