During the 2023 International Monetary Fund (IMF) Spring Meetings, the Digital Currency Monetary Authority (DCMA) unveiled their groundbreaking international central bank digital currency (CBDC) initiative. The DCMA's novel CBDC, known as the Universal Monetary Unit (UMU) and represented by the ANSI character Ü, aims to fortify the monetary sovereignty of participating central banks while adhering to the recent crypto asset policy recommendations put forth by the IMF. The UMU is considered a legally recognized money commodity that can be used in transactions involving any legally recognized settlement currency, operating in a manner similar to other CBDCs to enforce banking regulations and safeguard the financial integrity of the international banking system.
By connecting SWIFT Codes and bank accounts to a UMU digital currency wallet, banks can facilitate SWIFT-like cross-border payments via digital currency channels, bypassing the traditional correspondent banking system. This process offers competitive wholesale foreign exchange rates and instantaneous real-time settlement. Tobias Adrian, Financial Counsellor at the International Monetary Fund, acknowledged the challenges and inefficiencies in cross-border payments in an interview and envisioned a multilateral platform capable of streamlining these transactions, foreign exchange operations, risk sharing, and financial contracting.
Darrell Hubbard, the DCMA's Executive Director and Chief Architect of UMU, expressed that the organization's goal aligns with the IMF's vision of improving the global financial infrastructure. The UMU employs a global localization public monetary system architecture, enabling it to adapt to the central banking regulations of each participating jurisdiction. Although the IMF has not officially endorsed the Universal Monetary Unit, George Walker, a Partner at Practus, LLP specializing in international law, confirmed that the IMF has not raised any objections to the UMU's foreign exchange premium rates or its approach to monetary sovereignty.
Hubbard emphasized that the UMU's objective is not to disrupt the international monetary system but rather to reinforce it by assisting the IMF in fulfilling its mandate of ensuring economic and financial stability for its member states. The UMU is poised to revolutionize cross-border payments and protect against local currency depreciation, both seasonally and systemically. The proposed Universal Monetary Unit Model Law legislation, developed in collaboration with multiple sovereign states, suggests that the UMU should serve as a complementary money commodity for storing value and mitigating potential local currency depreciation risks, rather than being enacted as legal tender for domestic prices or international trade agreements.
Merchants and trading partners can accept UMU at an equivalent market value for their goods and services, which are priced in any national legal tender. The UMU wallet contains premium exchange rates and can convert any settlement currency amount to an equivalent UMU amount. The Universal Monetary Unit is a ground-breaking cryptocurrency designed to support central banking and regulated financial institutions, featuring a trusted consensus protocol known as the Staked Proof of Trust (SPOT) Protocol and a multi-dimensional Distributed Ledger Technology (mDLT) that can support any asset or liability ledger, enabling comprehensive digital banking and international trade payments.
The DCMA has dubbed the Universal Monetary Unit as "Crypto 2.0" due to its innovative cryptographic technologies that allow for the realization of a digital currency public monetary system with a widespread adoption framework. This framework encompasses use cases for all global economy participants. The DCMA is a leading advocate for digital currency and monetary policy innovation for governments and central banks, with its membership comprising sovereign states, central banks, commercial and retail banks, and other financial institutions. For more information, visit https://dcma.io.
