KUALA LUMPUR (Feb 11): Bank Negara Malaysia’s (BNM) Digital Asset Innovation Hub (DAIH) has onboarded three initiatives this year to test ringgit stablecoins and tokenised deposits, focusing on domestic and cross-border wholesale payments and tokenised asset settlements.

The three initiatives onboarded were the ringgit stablecoins for business-to-business settlement by Standard Chartered Bank Malaysia and Capital A Bhd (KL:CAPITALA), tokenised deposits for payments by Malayan Banking Bhd (KL:MAYBANK) and tokenised deposits for payments by CIMB Group Holdings Bhd (KL:CIMB).

“The testing will allow BNM to assess the implications to monetary and financial stability and inform our policy direction in these specified areas. Notably, BNM intends to provide greater clarity on the use of ringgit stablecoins and tokenised deposits by end-2026. These efforts could also be a precursor to future integration with existing work by BNM such as on wholesale central bank digital currency (CBDC),” it said in a statement.

These initiatives will be conducted in a controlled environment and involve collaboration with corporate clients of financial institutions and other regulators. 

The DAIH was launched in June last year. Since its launch, BNM has engaged more than 30 international and domestic players from the bank and non-bank sectors, which will enable BNM to identify and prioritise high-impact use cases with clear value propositions that support the digitalisation of Malaysia’s economy and financial sectors. 

The DAIH aims to stimulate financial innovation in a controlled environment for applicants to test new ideas and provide input to fine-tune regulatory and security frameworks. 

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