Singapore expands BLOOM as Malaysia and Thailand join

• Singapore’s Monetary Authority is expanding its BLOOM initiative with Malaysia and Thailand joining as policymaker members.
• The initiative explores tokenised bank deposits and regulated stablecoins for cross-border payments.
• The collaboration aims to improve digital money transfers while supporting regulatory safeguards across participating markets.

Singapore’s Monetary Authority has expanded its BLOOM initiative to include Malaysia and Thailand as policymaker members, strengthening regional cooperation on digital money settlement.

BLOOM, short for Borderless, Liquid, Open, Online, Multi-currency, develops infrastructure for domestic and cross-border payments using regulated digital money.

The initiative brings policymakers and financial institutions together to address regulatory and operational challenges in cross-border settlement.

Its focus includes tokenised commercial bank money and regulated stablecoins, which can support digital transactions across participating markets.

BLOOM is also examining interoperability between digital money networks, alongside safeguards such as identity verification, sanctions screening and transaction controls.

The initiative builds on Project Orchid, Singapore’s earlier exploration of digital Singapore dollar use cases and supporting infrastructure.

MAS says shared implementation frameworks could reduce the need for separate arrangements between financial institutions, lowering costs and shortening time to market.

The expanded initiative marks a regional push towards interoperable digital money for cross-border payments, with regulatory safeguards built into settlement systems.