Digital money is splitting into two tracks that often get lumped together. One track is bank-issued tokenised deposits, which are still commercial bank deposits but represented as on-chain tokens. The other is stablecoins, typically issued by non-bank entities and backed by reserves. MAS’s BLOOM initiative is designed to let these settlement assets be used in safer, more consistent ways, without assuming they are interchangeable. BLOOM’s aim is to extend settlement capabilities offered by financial institutions, while managing risks in a fast-moving digital settlement asset landscape through standardised approaches.
BLOOM (Borderless, Liquid, Open, Online, Multi-currency) builds on MAS’s earlier work under Project Orchid, which explored use cases for a digital Singapore dollar and the infrastructure needed to support it. Project Orchid was established in 2021, and more than 10 trials have been successfully conducted. MAS said participating institutions have translated learnings into market-ready commercial offerings, including DBS’ programmable rewards (July 2025) and OCBC’s conditional payment solution for construction projects (November 2024). MAS positions BLOOM as the next step: widening settlement options for participants and making tokenised bank liabilities and well-regulated stablecoins usable via common approaches.
Tokenised Deposits vs Stablecoins: The Practical Difference BLOOM Must Navigate
The difference matters because the instruments behave differently in law and in operations. A tokenised deposit is a representation of a commercial bank deposit recorded on a blockchain or distributed ledger; the liability stays on the issuing bank’s balance sheet. Stablecoins are backed by segregated reserves and represent a claim on a reserve pool managed by a non-bank issuer. This backdrop helps explain why MAS is explicit about “well-regulated” stablecoins and why BLOOM focuses on standardised approaches. Globally, stablecoins have surpassed US$300 billion in circulating supply and processed US$33 trillion in transaction volume during 2025, showing why demand for clearer settlement standards is rising.
BLOOM’s scope is wide but concrete. MAS said it spans multiple currencies, including G10 and Asian currencies, and covers domestic and cross-border payment settlement. It also targets wholesale use cases such as corporate treasury management, trade finance, and agentic payments. Early workstreams focus on distribution and clearing of settlement assets, aimed at coordinating disparate networks so different forms of settlement assets can be used, transferred, and redeemed more seamlessly. Another initial focus is programmable controls for compliance checks, using standardised mechanisms to increase consistency and lower compliance cost for cross-border wholesale settlement arrangements.
Industry participation shows BLOOM is designed for real-world interoperability rather than a closed pilot. Members include DBS, OCBC, and UOB, alongside Standard Chartered and JPMorgan, and crypto-native participants such as Coinbase, StraitsX (XSGD issuer), and Circle (USDC issuer). This matters because large institutions are already scaling tokenised bank money elsewhere. Spark reports that JPMorgan’s Kinexys Digital Payments went live for institutional clients on Base in November 2025 and expanded to the Canton Network in January 2026; by September 2025 it had processed over US$2 trillion in cumulative notional value and averaged more than US$3 billion in daily transaction volume. In this context, the Singapore MAS BLOOM tokenised bank liabilities 2026 conversation is less about hype and more about how to test, standardise, and connect settlement options safely.
What is MAS’s BLOOM initiative trying to enable?
How does BLOOM relate to Project Orchid?
Why distinguish tokenised deposits from stablecoins in settlement design?
What are BLOOM’s initial focus areas?
What does the Singapore MAS BLOOM tokenised bank liabilities 2026 push mean for real usage?
