Malaysia and Thailand have joined Singapore’s BLOOM initiative, a public-private project focused on making cross-border payments using stablecoins and tokenized deposits more efficient. Bank Negara Malaysia and the Bank of Thailand became policymaker members on Friday, expanding the regional participation in a program designed to connect financial institutions across markets.
What BLOOM is designed to do
BLOOM stands for Borderless, Liquid, Open, Online and Multi-currency. The initiative is intended to help banks and other financial institutions coordinate the use of stablecoins and tokenized deposits for cross-border payments.
Stablecoins are digital tokens designed to maintain a stable value, while tokenized deposits represent deposits issued in digital form on blockchain-based infrastructure. BLOOM’s stated objective is to reduce costs and help institutions launch services more quickly. The Monetary Authority of Singapore said the initiative could reduce the need for each institution to establish separate arrangements with every counterparty or market.
The project’s scope extends beyond payment transfers. Its work also includes corporate cash management, trade finance and payments carried out by artificial-intelligence agents within predefined limits.
Regional expansion and earlier work
Singapore’s Monetary Authority launched BLOOM in October 2025, building on Project Orchid. That project began in 2021 to examine potential uses for a digital Singapore dollar.
The addition of Malaysia and Thailand brings two more central banking authorities into the initiative as policymakers. Their participation adds to BLOOM’s regional focus as financial institutions examine how digital forms of money could support wholesale transactions across borders.
Bank Negara Malaysia separately said in February that three initiatives would test ringgit stablecoins and tokenized deposits for domestic and cross-border wholesale payments in 2026. These tests provide a separate Malaysian effort connected to the broader use of tokenized payment instruments.
Companies and current market picture
BLOOM’s participants include Airwallex, Mastercard, Ripple, Visa and the World Bank Group. Their involvement places payment companies, financial-technology firms and an international development institution alongside policymakers in the initiative.
Moneyiar market data at 08:09 on October 24, 2026, showed mixed performance among the listed digital assets:
- Cronos (CRO): $0.0547813388, down 4.21% over 24 hours and 5.09% over seven days.
- Stable (STABLE): $0.0264191815, up 3.53% over 24 hours and 1.69% over seven days.
- ORDI (ORDI): $3.6338434175, down 4.43% over 24 hours and 6.61% over seven days.
- ONEchain (ONE): $0.101812292, down 0.98% over 24 hours and 5.33% over seven days.
The BLOOM development was reported by Cointelegraph. Its focus is on the infrastructure and coordination needed for cross-border wholesale payments, rather than on the performance of any single cryptocurrency.
