Image credit: Shutterstock
Visa has joined Singapore’s BLOOM initiative, with payments infrastructure provider Nium as its first partner to pilot stablecoin settlement across all seven days of the week.
The Monetary Authority of Singapore-led project will examine whether regulated stablecoins backed by major currencies, including the U.S. dollar and euro, can complement existing payment infrastructure with settlement on weekends and public holidays.
Stablecoins Could Extend Settlement Beyond Business Days
Visa and Nium will explore whether stablecoins can settle payment obligations outside conventional business-day schedules, reducing delays before participating financial institutions can access funds.
The pilot will continue using Visa’s payment network, security, and compliance capabilities while adding stablecoins as a complementary settlement rail.
Visa has not identified a specific stablecoin or blockchain for the BLOOM pilot. Its announcement says the test will support regulated stablecoins backed by major currencies, including U.S. dollar and euro-denominated tokens.
BLOOM Tests Tokenized Bank Liabilities and Regulated Stablecoins
BLOOM stands for Borderless, Liquid, Open, Online, Multi-currency. MAS launched the initiative in October 2025 to support settlement using tokenized bank liabilities and well-regulated stablecoins while developing standardized approaches to risk.
MAS has invited banks, financial institutions and clearing and settlement network operators to conduct trials. Maybank Singapore joined BLOOM on August 6 to work on cross-border payments and transaction-banking infrastructure.
Nium is regulated by MAS as a Major Payment Institution for services including domestic and cross-border money transfers, merchant acquisition and e-money issuance.
Nium Joins Pilot Under Singapore Major Payment Institution License
Nium previously joined Visa’s broader stablecoin settlement pilot in November 2025, using supported stablecoins including Circle’s USDC across compatible blockchains. That program was also designed to address weekend settlement delays.
The August 25 BLOOM announcement does not confirm that USDC will be used in Singapore. Visa also has not disclosed the blockchain, participating financial institutions, transaction volumes or detailed launch timetable for the new pilot.
