Visa and Nium have joined the MAS-led Project Bloom stablecoin pilot, a regulated experiment testing stablecoin settlement for cross-border payments that carries direct relevance for Southeast Asia’s remittance-heavy corridors.
Who is joining Singapore’s stablecoin settlement test
Global payments network Visa and Singapore-based fintech Nium are the two parties confirmed in the announcement, with Nium set to participate in Visa’s stablecoin settlement pilot to support its cross-border payments. The effort sits under Project Bloom, an initiative led by the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS), the city-state’s central bank and financial regulator. For related coverage, see Western Union brings stablecoin remittances to Visa with Stablecard.
Nium confirmed its role in a separate newsroom statement, framing the collaboration around its cross-border payments business. This remains a pilot, not a full production rollout, and the participants have not disclosed launch dates, transaction volumes, or specific token choices. For related coverage, see Standard Chartered-Backed Venture Launches Hong Kong Dollar Stablecoin.
TLDR KEYPOINTS
- Visa and Nium have joined the MAS-led Project Bloom stablecoin pilot.
- The pilot tests stablecoin settlement for cross-border payments, not a live commercial launch.
- MAS leadership places the experiment inside Singapore’s regulated payments framework.
Why MAS involvement anchors this in regulated payments
MAS leadership signals a regulatory and institutional framing rather than a purely private venture. The Bloom initiative is positioned to expand settlement capabilities, which points the work toward payment infrastructure rather than speculative token trading.
Stablecoin pilots in payments typically test whether a fiat-pegged token can move value between institutions faster and more cheaply than existing correspondent banking rails. With Visa’s network and Nium’s cross-border reach, the practical focus is settlement between payment providers rather than consumer-facing wallets. Verified reporting on the tie-up describes it as an effort to enhance cross-border payments.
The move follows Visa’s broader stablecoin push, including when it launched a stablecoin platform for banks and fintechs and expanded that platform with minting support. Regional peers are testing similar ground, such as the Standard Chartered-backed Hong Kong dollar stablecoin venture.
What to watch next from Visa, Nium, and MAS
Pilot programs typically produce follow-up disclosures on scope, additional participants, and measurable outcomes. The clearest signals of broader adoption would be an expansion of the participant list, confirmation of which stablecoins are used in settlement, and any move from pilot to commercial rollout.
For Southeast Asia, the stakes are practical. The region’s exchanges and remittance flows, from Coins.ph in Manila to Indodax and Tokocrypto in Indonesia, sit atop some of the world’s costliest cross-border corridors, and infrastructure that reprices settlement could ripple through how money moves for the region’s 700 million people. Institutional stablecoin experiments have also drawn traditional finance, seen when BlackRock launched tokenized money market funds for stablecoin reserves. With MAS at the center, Project Bloom will be watched closely across the region’s regulators as a template for how stablecoin settlement can operate inside a supervised framework.
Disclaimer: This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute financial or investment advice. Cryptocurrency and digital asset markets carry significant risk. Always do your own research before making decisions.
