BLOOM Digital Money Settlement: Malaysia and Thailand Join MAS

On 23 October 2026 the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) announced that Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) and the Bank of Thailand (BOT) had joined BLOOM as policymaker members. BLOOM (Borderless, Liquid, Open, Online, Multi-currency) is the public-private initiative MAS launched in October 2025, and BLOOM digital money settlement work now brings three central banks together with industry on how tokenised deposits, regulated stablecoins and other forms of digital money are accepted, exchanged and settled across institutions, networks and jurisdictions. Nine more participants came in with the same announcement, among them Visa, Mastercard, Maybank, Nium and the World Bank Group.

For a bank or payment institution active in Singapore, Malaysia or Thailand, the announcement adds members and sets three focus areas. It creates no licence, return or deadline.

Each cross-border transaction leg must be assessed under the legislation and regulatory requirements applicable to the entity, activity and settlement asset in that jurisdiction. In Singapore, this includes the Payment Services Act 2019 (PS Act) and applicable MAS AML/CFT and sanctions requirements.

In Malaysia, existing requirements concerning deposit-taking, payments and remittances, AML/CFT and foreign exchange remain applicable; BNM’s Digital Asset Innovation Hub conditions apply to admitted testing arrangements alongside those requirements. In Thailand, the regulatory assessment must cover the Currency Act, applicable payment-services requirements and the BOT’s proposed THB-stablecoin framework. Where digital asset services are involved, firms must also assess the Thai Securities and Exchange Commission’s regulatory requirements under the Emergency Decree on Digital Asset Businesses and related rules, including restrictions on facilitating digital-asset payments for goods and services. The decisions that will settle which digital settlement assets these firms can accept are still open in all three countries.

That leaves compliance, payments operations and regulatory reporting teams with two jobs: map each part of a BLOOM-type flow to the obligation it already touches, and track the pending decisions that could change the answer.

Related reading: MAS Stablecoin Framework: PS Act Amendments, 16 October Deadline

BLOOM digital money settlement after the 23 October announcement

The release names three areas the participants will work on. The first is acceptance and settlement across jurisdictions: how financial institutions accept different forms of digital money for cross-border transactions, how counterparties contract with one another, and how a transaction is ultimately settled across institutions and markets. The second is interoperability between digital money arrangements, meaning the technical and operational approaches that let different arrangements work across networks, infrastructures and borders. The third is programmable controls, which the release describes as safeguards such as identity verification, sanctions screening and transaction controls in digital money transactions.

MAS frames the output as implementation frameworks plus aligned commercial and operating arrangements. The stated payoff is fewer separate arrangements with each counterparty or market, which MAS says will lower implementation cost and improve time to market. The release adds that central bank participation will ensure public policy and regulatory considerations are taken into account as those approaches are developed. The release also says BLOOM will look at how relevant international standards and jurisdiction-specific supervisory expectations can be applied to these transactions “while allowing for differences in local requirements”. The qualifier defines the scope: BLOOM targets common operating approaches, and each country’s own rules stay as they are.

Annex A to the release sorts the membership into three groups: 24 industry members, three policymaker members (MAS, BNM and BOT) and one multilateral development bank, the World Bank Group. Kasikornbank, a Thai bank, was already an industry participant before the BOT joined, as were the three Singapore banks DBS, OCBC and UOB. The newcomers are Airwallex, Mastercard, Maybank, Monee, Nium, Ripple, ShopeePay and Visa, plus the World Bank Group, whose participation MAS says brings global experience in payment systems modernisation, cross-border payments and financial inclusion, along with the perspectives and needs of developing economies.

Dates that frame the initiative

For Singapore firms, the commencement of the implementing legislation, rather than the consultation closing date or legislative passage alone, will determine when the new statutory licensing obligations apply. MAS finalised its single-currency stablecoin policy in August 2023 and consulted on implementing PS Act amendments in September 2026. No commencement date for the proposed stablecoin issuer licensing framework has been announced.

From Project Orchid to a forum with three central banks

MAS launched BLOOM on 16 October 2025 to extend the settlement capabilities that financial institutions offer, with settlement in tokenised bank liabilities and well-regulated stablecoins as the target. It builds on Project Orchid, set up in 2021 to explore use cases and infrastructure for a digital Singapore dollar, under which MAS counts more than 10 trials. The launch release set three objectives that the BLOOM page still lists: use of G10 and Asian currencies, domestic and cross-border payments and settlement, and wholesale use cases such as corporate treasury management, trade finance and agentic payments.

The 2025 launch organised the work differently from the 2026 release. It named initial focus areas with members attached: distribution and clearing of settlement assets (Circle, DBS, OCBC, Partior, Stripe and UOB), programmable compliance controls (Ant International and StraitsX, with standardised mechanisms including the Programmable Compliance Toolkit from the Global Layer One initiative) and agentic payments (Coinbase and DBS). The BLOOM page now shows four focus areas, the three named in the October 2026 release plus agentic payments. Agentic payments, meaning transactions executed by AI agents within predefined limits and safeguards, is still on the programme.

Related MAS projects examine different settlement assets, including tokenised commercial-bank liabilities and wholesale central bank digital currency. MAS’s 2025/2026 annual report records a Project Guardian foreign exchange industry report on tokenised bank liabilities (3 July 2025) and a live trial, announced on 13 November 2025, in which MAS, DBS, OCBC and UOB settled interbank overnight lending with wholesale central bank digital currency on the SGD Testnet, the first live issuance of Singapore dollar wholesale CBDC. Both are separate MAS projects, and neither changes the rules for firms outside them.

Tokenised deposits and stablecoins land in different legal categories

The release names tokenised deposits and regulated stablecoins together, as two forms of digital money the participants are working with. Singapore treats them as different instruments, and the difference drives who may issue, which licence applies and which rules protect the holder.

A tokenised deposit represents a commercial-bank liability in token form, one kind of the tokenised bank liabilities that BLOOM identifies as settlement assets. The applicable banking, accounting, prudential and reporting requirements continue to require assessment, and issuers should engage MAS on unresolved regulatory treatment before implementation.

Stablecoins follow a separate track. MAS proposes amendments to establish a separate licensing framework for issuers of qualifying single-currency stablecoins. Stablecoins outside that proposed framework would continue to be treated as DPTs for applicable regulatory purposes. A new licence class, stablecoin issuance, would be the only route to holding a token out as a “MAS-regulated stablecoin”.

Proposed issuer safeguards include reserve backing, capital requirements, redemption at par, disclosure and safeguarding customer money received before issuance. The detailed quantitative requirements, redemption arrangements and implementing rules remain subject to the legislative process. MAS’s 1 September 2026 release sets the scope as single-currency stablecoins issued in Singapore and pegged to the Singapore dollar or any G10 currency.

Under the consultation, a bank or merchant bank that wants to issue a MAS-regulated stablecoin would have to do so through a separate non-bank legal entity licensed as the issuer. MAS gives two reasons: it limits contagion risk to the bank, and it gives greater certainty that reserve segregation is met where the reserve pool comprises cash deposited with the parent bank (paragraph 6.3). That issuing entity could not carry on other regulated activities, banking business included, beyond DPT services incidental to its own stablecoin (paragraph 2.10). These arrangements remain proposed rather than binding requirements.

A product paper that calls a token a “regulated stablecoin” because its issuer is supervised somewhere would misstate the Singapore position. Under the proposals the label belongs to licensed issuers only, and stablecoins that are not MAS-regulated continue to fall within the DPT regime, under which intermediaries must assess whether their specific activities constitute regulated DPT services and comply with the applicable licensing and conduct requirements.

The cross-border provisions in MAS’s stablecoin consultation

The cross-border proposals in P015-2026 are particularly relevant to BLOOM because they address joint issuance across jurisdictions and the potential recognition of selected foreign-issued stablecoins.

Multi-jurisdictional issuance comes first. In 2023 MAS said that issuance of the same fungible stablecoin by related entities in several jurisdictions would not be permitted under the framework. The consultation changes that position: MAS is prepared to let a stablecoin be issued concurrently from Singapore and one or more foreign jurisdictions and still be held out as “MAS-regulated”, provided the risks are sufficiently mitigated (paragraph 5.2).

Under paragraph 5.4 of the consultation paper, the Singapore-incorporated issuer would apply for the stablecoin issuance licence, and a proposed new section 100A would let MAS grant case-by-case exemptions from two requirements: that every issuer of a MAS-regulated stablecoin be incorporated in Singapore, and that the Singapore issuer itself hold reserves at least equal to the stablecoins in circulation. Any exemption would carry conditions. Paragraphs 5.6 to 5.8 propose that foreign issuers be supervised under a regime MAS deems substantively equivalent, that reserve composition meet the stricter of the MAS or foreign requirement, that reserves held by all issuing entities equal at least 100% of the par value of stablecoins in circulation in segregated accounts on trust, that any reserve rebalancing or stablecoin attribution arrangement be approved by MAS before issuance with daily records submitted to MAS monthly, and that redemption terms be comparable across issuing entities. A multi-jurisdictional stablecoin issued entirely outside Singapore falls outside the MAS-SCS framework.

MAS also proposes to recognise a limited number of foreign-issued stablecoins regulated under comparable foreign frameworks, reflecting wholesale cross-border use cases. The detailed eligibility criteria, supervisory cooperation requirements, permitted descriptions of recognised tokens and implementation arrangements remain subject to consultation and subsequent rules.

On the consulted wording, the currency scope is the point Malaysian and Thai participants should check first. As consulted, the MAS-regulated label covers single-currency stablecoins pegged to the Singapore dollar or a G10 currency, and the ringgit and the baht are not G10 currencies. A ringgit- or baht-pegged stablecoin would fall outside the proposed SGD/G10 currency scope for Singapore-issued MAS-regulated stablecoins. Non-MAS-regulated stablecoins remain subject to the existing DPT framework where applicable. MAS’s proposed recognition of selected foreign-issued stablecoins is a separate, discretionary status dependent on comparable foreign regulation and other conditions.

BNM has said it intends to provide greater clarity on ringgit stablecoins and tokenised deposits by end-2026, and the BOT opened a public consultation on THB stablecoin principles on 19 October 2026. The currency eligibility for any foreign-recognition framework will need to be confirmed when MAS finalises and publishes the applicable conditions.

MAS has also consulted on a framework under which it could designate a stablecoin as systemic whether it is issued in or outside Singapore. Where the issuer of a designated stablecoin fails MAS’s requirements, MAS could prohibit or suspend its circulation in Singapore and, for an overseas issuer, prohibit licensed DPT intermediaries in Singapore from circulating it. Among the designation factors MAS lists is whether the stablecoin is used for cross-border settlement or to settle trade finance (paragraphs 4.1, 4.8 and 4.10). Supervisors elsewhere are building similar visibility; our note on the FSB’s cross-border stablecoin monitoring covers that work.

Singapore rules a BLOOM flow already touches

Nothing in the BLOOM releases moves the licensing perimeter. MAS’s licensing guidelines PS-G01 (last revised 8 October 2025) describe the seven payment services in the First Schedule of the PS Act: account issuance, domestic money transfer, cross-border money transfer, merchant acquisition, e-money issuance, DPT service and money-changing. Two descriptions catch cross-border digital money work. Cross-border money transfer includes facilitating remittance between entities in different countries even if the monies are not accepted or received in Singapore. DPT service includes transmitting or arranging the transmission of DPTs and providing custodian wallet services, alongside buying, selling and running an exchange platform.

The licence variation rule matters for trial planning. A payment institution seeking to add or remove a regulated payment service must apply for a licence variation using Form 2 and obtain the necessary approval before commencing an added service. For applications to add DPT services, MAS also requires a legal opinion mapping the proposed business model to regulated payment services and an independent external auditor assessment covering AML/CFT and consumer-protection arrangements. These supporting-document requirements have applied to relevant licence-variation applications since 26 August 2024.

A payment institution licensed only for cross-border money transfer must assess whether its proposed trial would involve carrying on a business of providing a regulated DPT service, such as transmitting DPTs for customers or providing custodial wallet services. Where the trial adds a regulated DPT service, the institution must obtain MAS approval of the relevant licence variation before commencing that service. Merely holding or transferring tokens for the institution’s own account does not, by itself, establish that it is providing a DPT service.

PS-G01 also tells a standard payment institution that intends to become a major payment institution to start the variation a reasonable period before it approaches the thresholds in section 6(5) of the Act, which set thresholds of S$3 million in monthly transactions for any one payment service and S$6 million for two or more payment services, in both cases excluding e-money account issuance and money-changing services, together with a threshold of S$5 million in daily outstanding e-money.

AML/CFT obligations sit with the licensed entity. Banks fall under MAS Notice 626, which lists correspondent banking and wire transfers among its areas and was last revised on 30 June 2025. Payment institutions fall under PSN01 for specified payment services and PSN02 for DPT services, with PSN03 covering reporting of suspicious activities and incidents of fraud.

MAS’s proposed stablecoin framework remains subject to legislative implementation. Existing AML/CFT requirements continue to apply to regulated firms and activities within their scope. P015-2026 proposes, on top of the existing AML/CFT standards for DPT service providers and banks (customer due diligence, the travel rule and screening), that MAS-regulated stablecoin issuers have the technical capability to trace, freeze and/or burn their stablecoins if used for illicit activity, with specific requirements to be set out in a Notice later (paragraph 3.22).

Targeted financial sanctions follow the same pattern. Financial institutions in Singapore apply the sanctions regulations MAS issued under section 192 of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2022 (FSMA), which give effect to UN Security Council sanctions. MAS’s targeted financial sanctions page lists the duties: freeze funds and assets of designated persons immediately, do not deal with them or provide them with financial services, inform MAS of relevant funds or assets, and screen customers and beneficial owners before establishing a relationship or providing a service.

BLOOM’s programmable-controls work covers identity verification, sanctions screening and transaction controls inside digital money transactions. A control coded into a token supports an institution’s screening and due diligence, and the Notice 626, PSN01, PSN02 and sanctions duties stay with the licensee. For the payment data that has to travel with transfers across borders, our FATF travel rule implementation piece covers the state of implementation.

One further perimeter applies to Singapore firms whose counterparties are all abroad. From 30 June 2025, the FSMA regime requires licensing of digital token service providers serving only overseas customers where the regulated services concern digital payment tokens or tokens representing capital markets products. MAS stated on 6 June 2025 that it would generally not grant such licences.

Existing providers without a licence that served only overseas customers in digital payment tokens or capital markets product tokens were required to cease that activity when the regime took effect. Services relating solely to other tokens, such as utility or governance tokens, are outside this new licensing regime. A Singapore entity designed to run digital-token legs only for Malaysian or Thai clients should be tested against that perimeter before a trial starts.

Malaysia: DAIH testing and BNM’s end-2026 marker

BNM’s route into tokenised money runs through its Digital Asset Innovation Hub (DAIH), set up in June 2025. On 11 February 2026 BNM said the hub had onboarded three initiatives to test ringgit stablecoins and tokenised deposits during 2026, focused on wholesale payments, both domestic and cross-border, including settlement of tokenised assets. The DAIH page (initiatives list as at 30 July 2026) names them:

• Standard Chartered Bank Malaysia Berhad with Capital A Berhad: ringgit stablecoins for business-to-business settlement;
• Malayan Banking Berhad (Maybank): tokenised deposits for payments;
• CIMB Group Holdings Berhad: tokenised deposits for settlement of tokenised securities.

BNM said the tests run in a controlled environment with ecosystem partners, including corporate clients of financial institutions and other regulators, that some use cases will explore Shariah-related considerations, and that the work could later connect with its wholesale CBDC work. The planning marker is BNM’s statement that it intends to provide greater clarity on the use of ringgit stablecoins and tokenised deposits by end-2026.

DAIH admission governs participation in BNM’s testing programme. The Malaysian legislation and regulatory requirements applicable to the activity continue to apply, and BNM’s page states that admission does not guarantee regulatory recognition and that any live launch requires further BNM assessment. Applicants must show they can meet BNM’s expectations, including on AML/CFT and foreign exchange policies, so a cross-border ringgit leg must be assessed against applicable foreign exchange policies alongside the other relevant regulatory requirements. The BLOOM release leaves those conditions untouched. In it, Deputy Governor Aznan bin Abdul Aziz said BNM looks forward to exploring, through BLOOM, a future in which cross-border payments can be made using multiple digital monies.

Group names in Annex A also need translating into legal entities. Maybank and Standard Chartered appear as BLOOM industry members under their group names, while the DAIH initiatives are led by named Malaysian entities. A Singapore team relying on a Malaysian affiliate’s DAIH work should confirm which entity holds which permission before drawing on it.

Thailand: a 2021 baseline and a stablecoin framework in progress

The BOT’s published stablecoin position starts in March 2021. On 17 March 2021 (press release No. 15/2021) the BOT said any activity involving THT, a token created abroad on the Terra platform and pegged one-to-one to the baht, was illegal because creating, issuing, using or circulating a token for money violates section 9 of the Currency Act 1958. Two days later (No. 16/2021) it set out its stablecoin policy. Baht-backed stablecoins intended as a means of payment may be classified as e-money under the Payment Systems Act B.E. 2560 (2017), and anyone planning services involving them must consult the BOT before starting operations. For other forms of stablecoins that were not otherwise unlawful, including foreign-currency-backed, asset-backed and algorithmic stablecoins, the BOT said in March 2021 that it would receive feedback before considering specific regulatory guidelines.

On 19 October 2026, the BOT opened a public consultation on proposed regulatory principles for businesses involved in THB stablecoins; the BOT hearing page gives the period as 19 October to 17 November 2026, so comments are due by 17 November 2026. The consultation describes baht-backed stablecoins pegged one-to-one and fully backed by reserves, and distinguishes between issuers, responsible for issuance, redemption and reserves, and wallet providers, responsible for services involving the tokens. It addresses risk management, interoperability and payment innovation, including cross-border transactions. These are proposed regulatory principles, not final or binding stablecoin rules.

The BOT’s words in the BLOOM release are separate from that consultation. Deputy Governor Daranee Saeju said the collaboration would help inform forward-looking regulatory approaches for tokenised money, particularly in cross-border payments and wholesale settlement, while the BOT keeps its oversight prudent, proportionate and responsive to evolving risks. The BOT also has a separate track with MAS. On 13 November 2025 the Bank of England, MAS and the BOT announced experiments on synchronised FX settlement, starting with simulated versions of their real-time gross settlement systems alongside DLT-based settlement environments and aimed at payment-versus-payment FX settlement. The BOT said linking settlement infrastructures in this way could also support cross-border delivery-versus-payment use cases.

The BOT’s 2021 THT statement remains relevant to the treatment of baht-referenced tokens, but Thai digital-asset requirements extend beyond currency and payment legislation. Under SEC rules effective from April 2022 and amended in September 2024, SEC-supervised digital asset business operators are restricted from facilitating the use of digital assets to pay for goods or services, subject to specified arrangements approved under the BOT’s Programmable Payment Sandbox. Sections 26 and 26/1 of the Emergency Decree on Digital Asset Businesses, as amended in 2025, also extend licensing requirements to certain offshore providers serving persons in Thailand, subject to applicable exceptions. Firms designing a Thai settlement leg must establish whether these requirements apply to the proposed asset, service, customer and transaction purpose.

BLOOM, Nexus and synchronised FX settlement run on separate tracks

BLOOM, Nexus and the synchronised FX settlement experiments have overlapping but different participants. MAS, BNM and the BOT participate in BLOOM and Nexus, while the synchronised FX work announced in November 2025 involves the Bank of England, MAS and the BOT. Their purposes, infrastructures and implementation stages must therefore be assessed separately.

The BOT announced on 3 April 2025 that the Reserve Bank of India, BNM, Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas, MAS and the BOT had incorporated Nexus Global Payments in Singapore as a not-for-profit company limited by guarantee, to run the scheme that connects domestic instant payment systems. MAS’s annual report records that Bank Indonesia joined as a full participant in February 2026, that go-live is targeted for 2027 and that a joint venture of Malaysia’s PayNet and Singapore’s NETS is the technical operator. Nexus links existing instant payment systems; BLOOM concerns tokenised settlement assets. Our guide to the G20 cross-border payments targets covers the wider policy agenda that these projects sit within.

Reporting: no BLOOM return and no confirmed new MAS return

BLOOM has no return of its own, so existing returns carry on. PSN04 governs applicable regulatory returns for licensed payment service providers. MAS’s former MASNET application has been decommissioned, and its migration notice directs users to the Payment Services Act monthly, semi-annual and annual return services on eservices.mas.gov.sg. Firms should use the current submission links and confirm their applicable forms and reporting deadlines against the operative PSN04 requirements. Our PSN04 reporting guide maps which forms attach to which licensed service, which is the starting point for any licensee whose service mix changes because of a trial.

P015-2026 proposes several information flows to MAS. Issuers would stress test at least quarterly, with scenarios, assumptions, methodologies and results documented and shared with MAS (paragraph 3.16), and would share recovery and orderly wind-down plans with MAS at least annually (paragraph 3.19). Proposed Part 2A of the PS Act would let MAS require stablecoin issuers and participants to provide information on stablecoins circulating in Singapore, such as the value, volume and frequency of issuance and redemption and partnerships with DPT intermediaries, in the form of a periodic return or otherwise (paragraph 4.2 and proposed section 40A in Annex C). Question 16 seeks comments on reporting requirements for all DPT service providers, and for a multi-jurisdictional issuance arrangement daily reserve records would be kept and submitted to MAS monthly (paragraph 5.7).

These are proposals. The consultation sets out no return templates, and MAS will consult on subsidiary legislation at a later date (paragraph 1.2), so no new return form, submission channel or due date exists yet. Firms should not treat the proposed requirements as confirmed reporting instructions, and existing regulatory reporting obligations continue to apply under the operative MAS notices.

Frequently Asked Questions

How does a firm join BLOOM, and does membership itself need MAS approval?

The BLOOM page invites financial institutions, industry partners and regulators to submit an expression of interest through an online form, and it invites banks, financial institutions and clearing and settlement network operators to run trials, including on public blockchains. Neither the page nor the October 2026 release sets a licence or sandbox requirement for membership. The activity carried out in a trial still needs whatever licence the PS Act or other legislation requires for it.

Does the proposed interest prohibition affect revenue-sharing between a distributor and a MAS-regulated issuer?

MAS proposes to prohibit licensed MAS-regulated stablecoin issuers from paying interest to holders. The consultation states that the prohibition is not intended to apply to revenue-sharing, distribution, service or other commercial arrangements between the issuer and a third party, and that negative returns from reserve management, such as losses or fees, must not be attributed to holders (paragraph 3.2 and footnote 5). These remain proposals until the amending legislation is enacted.

Can a MAS-regulated stablecoin issuer hold or transfer its own tokens for BLOOM counterparties without a separate DPT licence?

MAS proposes a separate stablecoin issuance licensing framework. The consultation proposes that a licensed issuer may provide DPT services in respect of its own MAS-regulated stablecoin where incidental to the issuance business, for example arranging the transmission of the token or safeguarding it, without a separate DPT service licence, but may not conduct any DPT service in respect of other DPTs (paragraph 2.10 and footnote 4). Footnote 3 adds that entities in Singapore issuing non-MAS-regulated stablecoins will require a major payment institution licence under the PS Act, as they will be deemed to be providing DPT services in Singapore. Both points are proposals, so a firm planning around them should track the draft amendments through enactment.

What happens to our position if a stablecoin we accept is designated systemic and its overseas issuer falls short?

MAS’s consultation addresses additional safeguards for stablecoins that may become systemically important. Under the consultation, MAS could prohibit or suspend circulation of a designated stablecoin in Singapore where its issuer fails MAS’s requirements, and for an overseas issuer could prohibit licensed DPT intermediaries in Singapore from circulating it. Directions to DPT service providers could require them to stop offering the stablecoin, delist it and related trading pairs, and prohibit further accumulation by customers (paragraphs 4.8 and 4.9). Question 19 asks for views on an appropriate notice period and on recourse for customers exposed at the point of designation, so neither is settled. A treasury policy that accepts a stablecoin as a settlement asset should name its exit path if circulation in Singapore is restricted.

What if a MAS-regulated issuer’s licence lapses while its tokens are outstanding?

MAS’s consultation proposes recovery and orderly wind-down safeguards for stablecoin issuers. MAS proposes that an issuer whose licence is revoked, lapsed or surrendered be disallowed from all stablecoin issuance business, including non-MAS-regulated stablecoins, and seeks feedback on an alternative of requiring the business to be wound down or the entity wound up (paragraphs 3.11 and 3.12). MAS also expects such issuers not to dispose of reserve assets other than to fulfil redemptions until MAS is reasonably satisfied that no redemption requests are outstanding, and Question 10 seeks comments on a power to prohibit that disposal (paragraph 3.13).

Can a Singapore or Thai firm without a Malaysian entity join a DAIH testing arrangement?

The DAIH is open to regulated financial institutions, fintech companies and other Malaysian-incorporated entities developing digital asset solutions; foreign entities may take part through Malaysian partners. Testing lasts up to six months, depending on the complexity of the use case. The DAIH is separate from BNM’s Regulatory Sandbox, and an applicant whose business model faces a regulatory impediment may be directed to the sandbox instead.

Can wholesale banks and merchant banks in Singapore issue stablecoins for BLOOM use cases?

MAS’s stated position is that the restricted depositor scope limiting wholesale banks’ and merchant banks’ Singapore dollar deposit-taking also applies to persons who purchase, hold or otherwise access SGD stablecoins issued by those banks or the related entities through which they issue, whether acquired directly or in the secondary market. That effectively prevents them from issuing SGD stablecoins that retail individuals can trade freely, while stablecoins for wholesale use cases, such as tokens traded only among corporates for trade finance, remain possible. MAS asks these banks to engage it on their plans (paragraphs 6.5 to 6.7).

Related Articles

• MAS Stablecoin Framework: PS Act Amendments, 16 October Deadline: the P015-2026 proposals for Singapore stablecoin issuers and DPT intermediaries.
• PSN04 Reporting in Singapore: Forms 1A to 9 and the 30-Day Rule: which MAS returns each payment licensee files and when.
• HKMA Project Ensemble: Tokenised Deposits Enter Real-Value Pilot: Hong Kong’s tokenised deposit pilot, a comparison point for bank-issued digital money.
• Project Agora: Tokenised Wholesale Payments Reach Real-Value Testing: the BIS project on tokenised wholesale cross-border payments.
• FSB Global Stablecoin Note: Tracking Where Tokens and Reserves Sit: how the FSB approaches cross-border stablecoin monitoring.

Key Takeaways

• Classify each proposed settlement asset before a trial: a bank tokenised deposit (MAS guidance pending) or a stablecoin, which the proposals keep within the DPT category and which can carry the MAS-regulated label only from a licensed issuer once the proposed framework is legislated and commences.
• Ringgit- and baht-pegged stablecoins fall outside the proposed SGD/G10 scope for Singapore-issued MAS-regulated stablecoins. Their treatment under the existing DPT regime must be assessed separately. MAS has also proposed a discretionary recognition framework for selected foreign-issued stablecoins, subject to qualifying foreign regulation and further implementing requirements.
• Obtain MAS approval of a Form 2 variation before a licensee starts any payment service a trial adds, such as DPT transmission or custody.
• Keep customer due diligence, travel-rule data, sanctions screening and suspicious transaction reporting with the licensed entity, whatever controls the token carries.
• Track BNM’s stated intention to provide greater clarity on ringgit stablecoins and tokenised deposits by end-2026; the BOT’s THB-stablecoin consultation, which closes on 17 November 2026; and MAS’s forthcoming stablecoin subsidiary legislation and tokenised deposit guidance, for which publication dates remain unconfirmed.
• MAS proposes issuer stress testing at least quarterly and recovery and orderly wind-down plans at least annually, both shared with MAS, plus information requirements on stablecoin circulation; return templates and submission mechanics await subsidiary legislation.
• Test any Singapore entity that would serve only overseas clients in digital tokens against the FSMA licensing perimeter, where MAS says it will generally not issue a licence.

Sources and References

• MAS, “MAS, Bank Negara Malaysia and Bank of Thailand Partner with Industry to Advance Cross-Border Settlement in Digital Money through BLOOM”, media release, 23 October 2026: mas.gov.sg
• MAS, Annex A, List of BLOOM participants (PDF), 23 October 2026: mas.gov.sg
• Thai SEC, digital-asset payment restrictions (announced March 2022; effective 1 April 2022), amendments accommodating the BOT Programmable Payment Sandbox (3 September 2024; effective 6 September 2024), and Emergency Decree on Digital Asset Businesses B.E. 2561 (2018), as amended by B.E. 2568 (2025): Thai SEC, 2022 release; Thai SEC, 3 September 2024 amendment; Thai SEC, consolidated amended Emergency Decree (unofficial English translation; sections 26 and 26/1; only the Thai text has legal force)
• MAS, BLOOM initiative page: mas.gov.sg
• MAS, “MAS Launches BLOOM Initiative to Extend Settlement Capabilities”, media release, 16 October 2025: mas.gov.sg
• MAS, Consultation on Proposed Amendments to the Payment Services Act 2019 for Stablecoins Regulation (P015-2026), 1 September 2026: consultation page and consultation paper (PDF); Annex C, Draft Amendments to Payment Services Act (proposed sections 40A and 100A): Annex C (PDF)
• MAS, “MAS Consults on Legislative Amendments to Implement Stablecoin Regulatory Framework”, media release, 1 September 2026: mas.gov.sg
• MAS, Annual Report 2025/2026, Digital Assets and Asset Tokenisation: mas.gov.sg
• MAS, Annual Report 2025/2026, Payment Innovation: mas.gov.sg
• MAS, Guidelines on Licensing for Payment Service Providers (PS-G01), last revised 8 October 2025 (PDF): mas.gov.sg
• MAS, Payment Services Act 2019 page (licence types, PSN01, PSN02, PSN03): mas.gov.sg
• MAS, Payments regulation page (licensing-process revisions effective 26 August 2024: legal opinion and independent external auditor assessment for variations adding DPT services): mas.gov.sg
• MAS, Standard Payment Institution licence page (section 6(5) thresholds and their exclusions): mas.gov.sg
• MAS, Notice 626, Prevention of Money Laundering and Countering the Financing of Terrorism, Banks: mas.gov.sg
• MAS, Targeted Financial Sanctions: mas.gov.sg
• MAS, “MAS Clarifies Regulatory Regime for Digital Token Service Providers”, media release, 6 June 2025: mas.gov.sg
• MAS, Consultation Paper on Proposed Regulatory Approach, Regulations, Notices and Guidelines for Digital Token Service Providers under the Financial Services and Markets Act 2022 (opened 4 October 2024; MAS response 30 May 2025): mas.gov.sg
• MAS, PSN04 Notice on Submission of Regulatory Returns: mas.gov.sg
• MAS, MASNET migration notice (Payment Services Act return links): masnet.mas.gov.sg
• Bank of England, MAS and Bank of Thailand, “BoE, MAS and BoT to Explore Synchronised FX Settlement Across Borders”, 13 November 2025: mas.gov.sg
• Bank Negara Malaysia, “Digital Asset Innovation Hub Charts 2026 Strategy with Focus on Ringgit Stablecoins and Tokenised Deposits”, 11 February 2026: bnm.gov.my
• Bank Negara Malaysia, Digital Asset Innovation Hub page: bnm.gov.my
• Bank of Thailand, Press Release No. 15/2021, “Thai Baht-denominated Stablecoins”, 17 March 2021: bot.or.th
• Bank of Thailand, Press Release No. 16/2021, “Stablecoins Regulation Policy”, 19 March 2021: bot.or.th
• Bank of Thailand, Press Release No. 13/2025, Project Nexus partners incorporate Nexus Global Payments, 3 April 2025: bot.or.th
• Bank of Thailand, public hearing on supervisory principles for businesses involved in THB stablecoins (19 October to 17 November 2026): bot.or.th

What to settle before a BLOOM trial starts

Before a bank or payment institution commits to a BLOOM trial, its approval file should record four things for each leg: the settlement asset and its legal category in each jurisdiction, the entity and licence that will carry the leg, the owner of AML/CFT and sanctions controls, and the returns that will capture the activity. For firms that want to run trials, the entry point is the expression-of-interest form on MAS’s BLOOM page.

Disclaimer: The information on RegReportingDesk.com is for educational and informational purposes only. It does not constitute legal, regulatory, tax, or compliance advice. Always consult your compliance officer, legal counsel, or the relevant supervisory authority for guidance specific to your institution.