Malaysia's Central Bank Strives to Harmonize Blockchain Advancements and Monetary Stability in Ambitious Three-Year Tokenization Initiative

Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM), the nation’s central bank, has introduced a three-year strategy to investigate asset tokenization within the financial industry, with the goal of upgrading infrastructure and tackling practical issues, as reported by

. Unveiled on November 1, 2025, this plan features proof-of-concept (POC) initiatives and real-world pilot programs through the newly formed Digital Asset Innovation Hub (DAIH). Central to the plan is the Asset Tokenization Industry Working Group (IWG), jointly led by BNM and the Securities Commission, which will focus on essential use cases that offer clear economic benefits, stated.

The roadmap focuses on tokenizing real-world assets (RWAs) instead of cryptocurrencies, with intended uses including SME supply chain financing, automation in Islamic finance, sustainable finance, and round-the-clock international settlements, according to

. BNM also noted that studies will be conducted on tokenized deposits and stablecoins pegged to the Malaysian ringgit (MYR) to ensure a balance between digital innovation and monetary stability. The integration of wholesale central bank digital currency (CBDC) is also being considered, as mentioned by .

The central bank emphasized that blockchain technology should provide measurable advantages and be technically practical. Each project will be assessed on three criteria: delivering real-world impact, not using distributed ledger technology (DLT) as a standalone fix, and ensuring compatibility with current systems, according to

. By 2027, Malaysia plans to broaden its experiments beyond the initial pilots, in step with similar initiatives by regional regulators such as Singapore’s MAS and Hong Kong’s HKMA, as referenced in .

Feedback from the industry on the roadmap’s consultation paper is being accepted until March 1, 2026, with BNM encouraging banks, fintech companies, and developers to submit their proposed use cases, according to

. This joint effort aims to reinforce Malaysia’s regulatory environment while nurturing domestic blockchain talent.

In addition to BNM’s efforts, Malaysia’s financial industry is already moving toward tokenization. Maybank has recently teamed up with Marketnode and BNP Paribas to tokenize its Money Market Fund, making it more accessible and transparent for investors. At the same time,

reported that BTCC Exchange saw $29 billion in trading volume for tokenized RWA futures during Q2–Q3 2025, highlighting the increasing appetite for blockchain-based traditional assets.