On 16 October 2025, the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) announced the launch of BLOOM an initiative designed to enhance digital settlement capabilities across the financial industry. BLOOM, an acronym for Borderless, Liquid, Open, Online, Multi-currency, aims to enable settlement in tokenised bank liabilities and well-regulated stablecoins through standardised frameworks that manage risks and promote interoperability. Its MAS’s strategy to integrate innovation with regulatory discipline. BLOOM builds upon the foundation laid by Project Orchid, launched in 2021 to explore a digital Singapore dollar and test the supporting infrastructure. Over ten trials were conducted under Project Orchid, leading to detailed industry reports and market-ready solutions such as programmable rewards, conditional payments, and cross-border collaborations. BLOOM extends this groundwork by focusing on multi-currency settlement, cross-border applications, and wholesale financial use cases, including corporate treasury management, trade finance, and agentic payments.
Compliance and Regulatory Requirements
The BLOOM creates a regulated interoperability framework for digital settlements. Its focus on tokenised bank liabilities and well-regulated stablecoins clarify authority’s intention to allow innovation without compromising prudential safeguards. MAS has explicitly tied BLOOM to Singapore’s regulatory architecture by integrating compliance automation via programmable controls and jurisdictional context through the Programmable Compliance Toolkit developed under the Global Layer One (GL1) initiative.
For compliance, BLOOM introduces a standardised approach to settlement asset oversight, integrating governance, risk management, and regulatory reporting directly into transaction protocols. The use of “programmable compliance” establishes a model where AML/CFT and cross-border regulatory checks are embedded at the technical level, ensuring compliance continuity even as financial instruments evolve.
Industry Collaboration and Participation
BLOOM unites a consortium of leading global and domestic institutions, including Circle, DBS, OCBC, UOB, Partior, Stripe, Coinbase, Ant International, and StraitsX. These entities will work together on interoperability, compliance automation, and AI-enabled agentic payments. MAS invites additional financial institutions and clearing networks to conduct trials under BLOOM, marking a shift from regulatory observation to regulatory co-creation — a defining feature of Singapore’s fintech policy model.
The initiative expands settlement functionality to multi-currency environments, covering both G10 and Asian currencies. It supports domestic and cross-border payments, embedding digital settlement mechanisms within existing payment infrastructures. A central focus on “agentic payments” i.e. transactions initiated and executed by AI agents under pre-set rules is MAS’s forward-looking approach to machine-driven financial operations, linking fintech innovation with oversight and regulation.
BLOOM complements Singapore’s broader digital finance strategy anchored by:
- Project Orchid – development of digital Singapore dollar infrastructure.
- Project Guardian – tokenisation of financial and real-world assets.
- Global Layer One (GL1) – establishment of common digital infrastructure and programmable compliance standards.
By aligning BLOOM with these projects, MAS integrates currency innovation, asset tokenisation, and compliance automation into a cohesive financial ecosystem.
Background of BLOOM
2021: Launch of Project Orchid to explore digital Singapore dollar prototypes.
2022–2024: Over ten trials conducted under Project Orchid; industry reports published.
2025: Launch of BLOOM to extend settlement across tokenised assets and stablecoins.
Objectives
- Enable secure settlement in tokenised bank liabilities and regulated stablecoins.
- Develop standardised compliance frameworks through programmable controls.
- Integrate AI-driven agentic payment capabilities.
- Enhance cross-border and multi-currency settlement efficiency.
BLOOM is a model of principles-based regulatory innovation. MAS maintains prudential boundaries while allowing experimentation with emerging asset classes. Its use of tokenised bank liabilities and stablecoins under defined compliance structures treats technological evolution as a tool for strengthening systemic trust, not eroding it. BLOOM is not merely a pilot but an architectural intersection of regulated decentralisation and programmable compliance.
