Malaysia and Thailand Join Singapore’s BLOOM Stablecoin Payments Initiative

Bank Negara Malaysia and the Bank of Thailand have become policymaker members of BLOOM, the payments initiative led by Singapore. The move, announced on Friday, shows growing regional interest in using digital money for cross border transactions.

What BLOOM Aims to Do

BLOOM stands for Borderless, Liquid, Open, Online and Multicurrency. It is a joint effort between the public and private sectors that helps banks and other financial firms use stablecoins and tokenized deposits to move money between countries. The Monetary Authority of Singapore says the goal is to lower costs and bring new services to market faster, since institutions would no longer need a separate setup with every counterparty or market.

Roots and Scope of the Initiative

BLOOM launched in October 2025 and grew out of Project Orchid, which began in 2021 to study uses for a digital Singapore dollar. Its work covers corporate cash management, trade finance, and payments made by AI agents within preset limits. Current participants include Airwallex, Mastercard, Ripple, Visa and the World Bank Group.Earlier this year, Bank Negara Malaysia announced three initiatives that will test ringgit stablecoins and tokenized deposits for domestic and cross border wholesale payments during 2026.