3 Asian Central Banks Unite for Cross-Border Digital Money

Asian Central Banks Join Forces on Digital Money

Cross-border payments are getting a major digital upgrade in Southeast Asia. Central banks from Singapore, Malaysia, and Thailand are coming together to create shared rules for moving digital money across their borders.

On October 23, 2026, the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) announced that Bank Negara Malaysia and the Bank of Thailand have officially joined the BLOOM initiative as policymaker members.

What Exactly is the BLOOM Initiative?

BLOOM stands for Borderless, Liquid, Open, Online, and Multi-currency. It is a collaborative project that connects financial regulators, traditional banks, payment networks, and technology firms.

The focus of BLOOM centers on two primary types of digital currency:

• Regulated stablecoins: Digital tokens designed to track specific reference assets, usually national fiat currencies.
• Tokenized deposits: Digital tokens that represent traditional money held inside commercial bank deposits.

These tools are being built to improve corporate treasury operations, international trade finance, and day-to-day cross-border payments.

Who Else is Involved in BLOOM?

Beside central banks, a diverse group of major payment networks, financial technology platforms, and international organizations are participating in the project:

• Global Payment Giants: Visa and Mastercard
• Digital Infrastructure & Crypto Firms: Circle, Coinbase, RippleXRP-2.82%, Nium, and Airwallex
• Regional Financial Players: Maybank, Monee (Sea's financial division), and ShopeePay
• Global Institutions: The World Bank Group

"The future of finance will involve multiple forms of digital money operating across different institutions and markets." - Leong Sing Chiong, MAS Deputy Managing Director for Markets and Development

Lowering Costs and Strengthening Security

Currently, financial institutions need separate custom agreements to move funds between different countries. This creates high operational costs and slows down transactions.

BLOOM aims to build standard framework agreements and shared connection setups. It also incorporates programmable rules directly into transactions for automatic identity checks and sanctions screening.

Singapore has already taken regulatory steps toward this vision. On September 1, MAS proposed legislative updates for stablecoins. These proposals include recognition pathways for foreign stablecoins and strict rules like mandatory stress testing, recovery planning, and wind-down guidelines for issuers.

Real-World Projects Testing the Tech

Several participant companies are actively running pilots to test cross-border settlement capabilities under or alongside the initiative:

1. Continuous 7-Day Settlement with Visa and Nium

Announced on August 25, Visa and Nium are running a pilot to enable stablecoin settlement seven days a week, including weekends and public holidays. The system leverages Visa's compliance capabilities to handle regulated tokens pegged to major foreign currencies like the U.S. dollar and the Euro.

2. Mastercard's Security Screening Framework

On October 19, Mastercard introduced its Stablecoin Security feature. By combining blockchain analytics with payment intelligence, it helps institutions screen transactions for fraud and sanctions risk. Early partners include Borderless.xyz and Keyrails, with a North American launch preceding a full global rollout in 2027.

3. Ripple and Arf's Liquidity Solutions

On October 22, Ripple and liquidity provider Arf announced a partnership to provide working capital financing using Ripple's RLUSD stablecoin. Licensed payment providers can access short-term liquidity on the XRP Ledger while awaiting cross-border trade settlements.

Addressing Financial Inclusion and Security

The World Bank Group brings valuable perspectives from developing nations to the BLOOM initiative, focusing on financial inclusion and modernizing payment rails worldwide.

Security and fraud prevention remain crucial aspects of this evolving landscape. Demonstrating proactive safety measures, the Singapore Police Force partnered with major crypto exchanges like Coinbase to identify over 145 scam victims before funds were lost, saving more than $4.2 million.

Note: Past performance of digital assets or financial institutions is not indicative of future results. Digital asset markets carry risk and volatility.