Briefs · Emerging Technologies
Singapore just gave digital money a proper plumbing system
Singapore does not chase crypto hype. It builds the plumbing, then invites the banks to use it.
On 16 October, the Monetary Authority of Singapore launched BLOOM — Borderless, Liquid, Open, Online, Multi-currency — an initiative to extend settlement capabilities for financial institutions, enabling settlement in tokenised bank liabilities and well-regulated stablecoins, under standardised frameworks that manage the risks.
BLOOM builds on Project Orchid, which established the technical competencies for a digital Singapore dollar. The original participants included Circle, Coinbase, DBS, OCBC, UOB, Partior, Stripe, Ant International and StraitsX, among others. The work covers G10 and major Asian currencies, and three areas: cross-border acceptance and settlement, interoperability between digital money systems, and programmable controls such as identity verification and sanctions screening.
This is not a coin launch, but rather an infrastructure project. A stablecoin that cannot settle across borders, banks and currencies is a souvenir; a stablecoin that can is money.
Conclusion: BLOOM is not a blockchain, but rather a bridge — borderless, liquid, open, and, for once, boring in the best sense.
Read the original at Monetary Authority of Singapore
Summary in our own words. The original belongs to its publisher.