Malaysia and Thailand central banks join Singapore's Bloom digital payments initiative

Bank Negara Malaysia and the Bank of Thailand have signed on as policymaker members of the Monetary Authority of Singapore's Bloom initiative, a public-private effort to advance cross-border digital money use. Together with MAS, they will partner with banks, payment networks and technology firms to harmonise how digital currencies are accepted, exchanged and settled across jurisdictions. The work will focus on establishing international standards, jurisdiction-specific supervisory expectations, and technical interoperability.

Programmable controls, including identity verification and sanctions screening, will be built into the framework. The expanded membership now includes major banks, crypto exchanges, stablecoin issuers and global payment providers, as well as the World Bank Group to represent developing-country interests.