Hashstacs Co-Develops Blockchain Project with Bursa Malaysia for Its Bonds Marketplace

SINGAPORE / KUALA LUMPUR, MALAYSIA – Media OutReach – 30 July 2020 – Singapore’s Fintech technology provider, Hashstacs Pte
Ltd (“STACS“), today announced
that it has partnered with Bursa Malaysia Berhad (“Bursa Malaysia“) on a
Blockchain Proof-of-Concept (“POC”) project dubbed “Project Harbour” for its
Bonds marketplace.

Project Harbour is centred around the usage of
Distributed Ledger Technology (” DLT”) as a register in facilitating  the growth of Labuan’s bond marketplace. The
project will take place in Malaysia’s offshore market, Labuan, in collaboration
with the Labuan Financial Exchange (LFX), a wholly-owned subsidiary of Bursa
Malaysia.

Mr Benjamin Soh, Managing
Director of Hashstacs Pte Ltd, said: “Hashstacs will develop a blockchain
solution to issue, service, trade and clear bonds on the platform. The creation
of an industry wide ecosystem will allow for a complete solution in
origination, servicing, trading, clearing and settlement, allowing Malaysia to potentially
have the first mover advantage in attracting regional and international bond
listings.”

Bursa Malaysia, alongside the
Securities Commission of Malaysia, Labuan Financial Services Authority, CIMB
Investment Bank Berhad, Maybank Investment Bank Berhad and China Construction
Bank Corporation Labuan Branch, will utilise the Trident Platform built by
Hashstacs to test and manage the end to end trade lifecycle management of
digital bonds. The blockchain based platform will facilitate issuances of
digital bonds seamlessly, while providing a single source of truth to maintain
the integrity of investors’ holdings and track transactions. In addition, smart
contract technology automates the movement of funds and securities, amplifying
asset servicing and the provision of liquidity to market participants.

Datuk Muhamad Umar Swift,
Chief Executive Officer of Bursa Malaysia, said: “The Exchange closely follows
current trends in innovation and new technologies with a view to remaining
relevant in this competitive landscape. One of the ways to achieve this is
through collaborations with innovative companies. The POC conducted in
partnership with Hashstacs presents an opportunity to provide a valuable
learning experience to build knowledge and obtain insights that will allow us
to grow the bond marketplace. The POC aims to increase operational efficiency,
driving down the cost of operations as well as the cost of issuing bonds.  We will continue to tap into emerging
technological innovations to further develop the marketplace and improve the
effectiveness and accessibility of the Exchange”

Project Harbour is aimed at exploring
and harnessing the opportunities enabled by blockchain and tokenisation of
assets. The creation of a blockchain powered infrastructure will provide a
single source of information that is kept in a shared distributed database
between Bursa Malaysia and participating banks, providing a registry of
ownership and reducing counterparty risks and reconciliation costs.

“Hashstacs has
established a good track record in the capital markets blockchain space over
the past year. The Trident Platform, powered by the STACS Blockchain and
Settlity Infrastructure, is an enterprise grade, end-to-end blockchain solution
designed for capital markets requirements. We are delighted to have an
established institution of Bursa Malaysia’s standing use our Settlity
Infrastructure and STACS Blockchain, which is a testament to our state of
having production-ready solutions.” added Mr Soh.

About Bursa Malaysia

Bursa
Malaysia is an exchange holding company incorporated in 1976 and listed in
2005, and is the national stock exchange of Malaysia. One of the largest
bourses in ASEAN, Bursa Malaysia helps over 900 companies raise capital across
50 economic activities — whether through the Main Market for established
large-cap companies, the ACE Market for emerging companies of all sizes, or the
LEAP Market for up-and-coming SME companies.

About Hashstacs Pte Ltd

Hashstacs is a Singapore
fintech development firm focusing on the digital transformation of the
financial industry. Its vision is to be the underlying Distributed Ledger
Technology on which Financial Market Infrastructure is built upon. For more
information, visit https://stacs.io/

The Settlity Infrastructure
is a next generation blockchain Infrastructure-As-A-Service platform that
allows financial institutions to manage and trade digital financial assets
simply. The Settlity Infrastructure is powered by the Securities Trading Asset
Clearing and Settlement (STACS) Blockchain, a blockchain built specifically for
the capital markets. For more information, visit https://settlity.com/