Malaysia and Thailand’s central banks join Singapore’s BLOOM stablecoin initiative
The central banks of Singapore, Malaysia, and Thailand are working together to advance the BLOOM cross-border digital currency initiative, with major players including Ripple, Visa, Mastercard, Circle, Coinbase, and JPMorgan all taking part.
At first glance, this looks like a major boost for the stablecoin sector. But the competition behind it deserves a closer look: traditional banks have no intention of giving up the cross-border payments market.
The BLOOM framework supports two types of assets: compliant stablecoins such as USDC, and tokenized deposits issued by banks. The key difference between them is who controls the funds. Stablecoin projects want funds to remain within the on-chain ecosystem, while banks are choosing to bring their deposit business directly on-chain.
Banks and crypto companies used to be competitors. Now they are competing head-to-head within the same digital payments infrastructure. The entry of Visa and Mastercard further raises the stakes.
The rules for winning in this sector are changing: the future winner in the stablecoin market may not be the project with the highest issuance volume, but the institution that controls access to cross-border payments and the settlement network.
The barriers to issuing tokens continue to fall. The real challenge is building partnerships with banks, complying with regulations in different countries, and connecting payment systems across borders. Whoever controls this underlying infrastructure can secure a lasting share of cross-border fund flows. In the long run, the payment networks and cross-chain settlement sector behind stablecoins have greater potential value.
#Stablecoins #BLOOM #CrossBorderPayments
The central banks of Singapore, Malaysia, and Thailand are working together to advance the BLOOM cross-border digital currency initiative, with major players including Ripple, Visa, Mastercard, Circle, Coinbase, and JPMorgan all taking part.
At first glance, this looks like a major boost for the stablecoin sector. But the competition behind it deserves a closer look: traditional banks have no intention of giving up the cross-border payments market.
The BLOOM framework supports two types of assets: compliant stablecoins such as USDC, and tokenized deposits issued by banks. The key difference between them is who controls the funds. Stablecoin projects want funds to remain within the on-chain ecosystem, while banks are choosing to bring their deposit business directly on-chain.
Banks and crypto companies used to be competitors. Now they are competing head-to-head within the same digital payments infrastructure. The entry of Visa and Mastercard further raises the stakes.
The rules for winning in this sector are changing: the future winner in the stablecoin market may not be the project with the highest issuance volume, but the institution that controls access to cross-border payments and the settlement network.
The barriers to issuing tokens continue to fall. The real challenge is building partnerships with banks, complying with regulations in different countries, and connecting payment systems across borders. Whoever controls this underlying infrastructure can secure a lasting share of cross-border fund flows. In the long run, the payment networks and cross-chain settlement sector behind stablecoins have greater potential value.
#Stablecoins #BLOOM #CrossBorderPayments