Protocols & Policy · Stablecoins
Malaysia and Thailand central banks join Singapore's cross-border digital money effort
The Monetary Authority of Singapore says Bank Negara Malaysia and the Bank of Thailand have joined its BLOOM initiative, alongside new members including Visa, Mastercard, Ripple and the World Bank Group.
Banks and payment firms moving stablecoins and tokenized deposits between Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand now have all three central banks working with industry on common settlement approaches. The Monetary Authority of Singapore said Oct. 23 that Bank Negara Malaysia and the Bank of Thailand have joined its BLOOM initiative as policymaker members [1]. Tokenized deposits are bank deposits represented as digital tokens. Regulated stablecoins are tokens issued to hold a steady value against a currency.
MAS describes BLOOM as a public-private initiative of policymakers, financial institutions, payment networks and technology providers. Its aim is common approaches to how "different forms of digital money can be accepted, exchanged and settled across institutions, networks and jurisdictions" [1].
The industry roster also grew. MAS named Airwallex, Mastercard, Maybank, Monee, Nium, Ripple, ShopeePay, Visa and the World Bank Group as new participants. Existing participants include Circle, Coinbase, DBS, J.P. Morgan, Standard Chartered and Stripe [1].
MAS says participants will work in three areas [1]:
- Acceptance and settlement: how firms accept different digital money across borders and how transactions are settled.
- Interoperability: how systems on different networks can work together.
- Programmable controls: safeguards such as identity checks, sanctions screening and transaction controls.
MAS argues that shared frameworks would spare firms from setting up "separate arrangements with each counterparty or market," lowering costs [1]. It says central bank participation will ensure "public policy and regulatory considerations are taken into account" [1].
The Bank of Thailand's deputy governor, Daranee Saeju, said the work would "help inform forward-looking regulatory approaches for tokenised money" while keeping oversight "prudent, proportionate, and responsive to evolving risks" [1].
The release sets no timeline, names no deliverable and gives no figures for transaction volume. It does not say any new rule or payment service is live. The next marker is whether BLOOM publishes the implementation frameworks MAS describes.
Sources
- Monetary Authority of Singapore, "MAS, Bank Negara Malaysia and Bank of Thailand Partner with Industry to Advance Cross-Border Settlement in Digital Money through BLOOM," media release, Oct. 23, 2026, https://www.mas.gov.sg/news/media-releases/2026/mas-bnm-and-bot-partner-with-industry-to-advance-cross-border-settlement-in-digital-money, accessed Oct. 23, 2026, 6:28 a.m. ET.
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