Malaysia and Thailand Join Singapore's Cross-border Stablecoin Project
BITmarkets Team
Nov 03, 2026
The two central banks officially joined the initiative, supporting efforts to develop payment infrastructure using stablecoins and tokenized bank deposits. BLOOM, which stands for Borderless, Liquid, Open, Online, Multi-currency, is a public-private initiative designed to help financial institutions adopt digital money solutions for international transactions.
Malaysia and Thailand join Singapore's BLOOM initiative
According to the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS), BLOOM aims to improve the efficiency of cross-border payments by reducing costs and simplifying the infrastructure required for financial institutions to operate across different markets. One of the initiative's primary objectives is to reduce the need for banks and payment providers to establish separate arrangements with individual counterparties or financial markets.
By developing more interconnected payment infrastructure, BLOOM seeks to help institutions introduce new financial services more quickly while lowering the complexity associated with international transactions. The participation of Malaysia and Thailand's central banks expands the initiative's regional policymaker involvement and could support greater coordination in the development of digital payment systems across Southeast Asia.
Stablecoins and tokenized deposits are central to BLOOM's approach, offering potential alternatives to conventional cross-border settlement processes. These technologies could allow financial institutions to transfer value more efficiently while maintaining connections to regulated financial systems.
BLOOM builds on Singapore's digital currency research
The Monetary Authority of Singapore originally introduced BLOOM in October 2025 as an extension of its broader research into digital currencies and tokenized financial infrastructure. The initiative builds on Project Orchid, which began in 2021 to investigate potential applications for a digital Singapore dollar.
While Project Orchid focused on exploring digital currency use cases, BLOOM extends that work toward practical applications involving financial institutions, businesses and international payment networks. Beyond cross-border payments, the initiative also examines corporate cash management and trade finance.
Another area of research involves payments initiated by artificial intelligence agents operating within predefined transaction limits. This approach could allow automated systems to execute authorized financial transactions while remaining subject to established controls and restrictions.
BLOOM brings together participants from the public and private sectors, including major financial technology companies and international institutions. Its participants include Airwallex, Mastercard, Ripple, Visa and the World Bank Group. The involvement of these organizations reflects growing interest in developing payment systems that connect traditional financial services with blockchain-based digital money.
Malaysia advances stablecoin and tokenized deposit trials
Malaysia's participation in BLOOM comes as the country continues exploring stablecoins and tokenized bank deposits for financial transactions. In February 2026, Bank Negara Malaysia announced three initiatives designed to test ringgit-denominated stablecoins and tokenized deposits.
The trials are focused on domestic and cross-border wholesale payments, with testing scheduled to take place during 2026. These initiatives form part of Malaysia's broader efforts to assess how digital currencies and tokenized financial instruments could support payment and settlement activities.
By joining BLOOM, Bank Negara Malaysia can participate in regional discussions and collaborative development alongside Singapore, Thailand and private-sector financial institutions. The Bank of Thailand's involvement similarly broadens the initiative's policymaker participation, potentially supporting greater alignment in approaches to digital money and international settlement.
The expansion of BLOOM highlights Southeast Asia's growing focus on stablecoins, tokenized deposits and interoperable financial infrastructure as central banks and private companies explore ways to make cross-border payments faster, more efficient and less costly.
Sources:
https://cointelegraph.com/news/malaysia-thailand-join-singapores-cross-border-stablecoin-push
