ASEAN Central Banks Join Cross-Border Stablecoin Pilot With Major Payment Firms

Singapore, Malaysia, and Thailand expand BLOOM payment pilot

The central banks of Malaysia and Thailand have officially joined Singapore’s BLOOM initiative, a project aimed at testing cross-border payments using digital money. Singapore’s Monetary Authority (MAS) confirmed on Friday that Bank Negara Malaysia and the Bank of Thailand are now participating as policymaker members in the program.

BLOOM, which stands for Borderless, Liquid, Open, Online, and Multi-currency, was launched in October 2025. It brings together government bodies, banks, and technology companies to test how different forms of digital money, including regulated stablecoins and tokenized bank deposits, can move between countries.

Major payment networks and crypto firms participate

Several major financial and technology companies are involved in the initiative. The group includes Visa, Mastercard, Ripple, and the World Bank Group. Additionally, industry players such as Circle, Coinbase, JPMorgan, Standard Chartered, and Stripe are participating in the project.

Focus on interoperability and security

• The pilot will test how banks handle various digital assets for international transactions.
• It examines how different payment networks can work together, known as interoperability.
• The project includes security measures like identity verification and sanctions screening.
• Ripple is specifically testing trade payments using its stablecoin, RLUSD, on the XRP Ledger.

Official statements on digital money

Leong Sing Chiong, Deputy Managing Director of MAS, stated that the future of finance involves multiple forms of digital money operating across different institutions. Aznan bin Abdul Aziz, Deputy Governor of Bank Negara Malaysia, noted that cross-border payments using digital money are becoming a more tangible possibility. Daranee Saeju, Deputy Governor of the Bank of Thailand, said the project will help his institution review regulatory approaches to tokenized money.

What is confirmed

• The central banks of Malaysia and Thailand have joined the BLOOM initiative.
• The project involves testing cross-border settlement using stablecoins and tokenized deposits.
• The listed companies (Visa, Mastercard, Ripple, etc.) are confirmed participants.

Sources

• The Block