UBS and Ant bet on blockchain to break bottleneck in global treasury flows

UBS and Ant International will test tokenized deposits for real-time cross-border payments and liquidity management in one of Singapore’s largest blockchain pilots.

Investment bank UBS has entered a strategic partnership with financial technology company Ant International to explore tokenized deposits for real-time cross-border payments and global liquidity management, marking a notable expansion of the Swiss bank’s blockchain-based digital cash platform.

The two companies signed a Memorandum of Understanding in Singapore, anchoring the deal in one of the most active hubs for institutional blockchain experimentation. The move positions tokenized bank money as a potential replacement for traditional treasury settlement rails, which are still defined by cut-offs, fragmentation and multicurrency delays.

Ant International, which oversees operations within the broader Alipay+ ecosystem, announced that it will utilize UBS Digital Cash to streamline internal treasury transfers across jurisdictions.