Led by the Innovation Hub's Singapore Centre, Project Dunbar demonstrated that financial institutions could use CBDCs issued by participating central banks to transact directly with each other on a shared platform. This has the potential to "reduce reliance on intermediaries and, correspondingly, the costs and time taken to process cross-border transactions".

Project Dunbar, which will be led by the Innovation Hub’s Singapore Centre, aims to develop prototype shared platforms for cross-border transactions using multiple CBDCs. The multi-CBDC platforms will allow financial institutions to transact directly with each other in the digital currencies issued by participating central banks, eliminating the need for intermediaries and cutting the time and cost of transactions. 

The project will work with multiple partners to develop technical prototypes on different distributed ledger technology platforms. It will also explore different governance and operating designs that would enable central banks to share CBDC infrastructures, benefitting from the collaboration between public and private sector experts in different jurisdictions and areas of operation.  

Project Dunbar will explore the international dimension of CBDC design and support the efforts of the G20 roadmap for enhancing cross-border payments. Its results, expected to be published in early 2022, will inform the development of future platforms for global and regional settlements.