Malaysia’s RMJDT Launch: An Inflection Point for ASEAN Stablecoins and Cross- Border Payments
Jointly written by:
Authors:
Ashvinie Periyasamy (KGP Legal)
Mahdev Mohan (KGP Legal)
Patrick Tan (ChainArgos)
Summary:
This article explores Malaysia’s RMJDT stablecoin within ASEAN’s compliance-first digital payments ecosystem and was prepared by KGP Legal in collaboration with Chain Argos.
A Policy-Driven Move Towards Regulated Digital Finance
Malaysia’s recent launch of RMJDT, a ringgit-pegged stablecoin issued by Bullish Aim under the stewardship of Johor’s Regent, is far more than a typical digital asset initiative. It represents a deliberate, policy-aligned step toward building regulated digital payment infrastructure with profound implications for real-world payments and cross-border commerce across Southeast Asia.
What differentiates RMJDT from many privately issued stablecoins is the institutional context supporting its launch and deployment. RMJDT’s underlying fiat currency, the Malaysian Ringgit, is issued by Bank Negara Malaysia and significantly, the stablecoin carries the explicit endorsement of the Johor Regent, materially strengthening the trust and legitimacy associated with its issuance. At the same time, RMJDT is being deployed under Malaysia’s rigorous regulated sandbox framework, jointly overseen by the Securities Commission Malaysia (SC) and Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM). Taken together, these features signal a deliberate policy choice to position RMJDT closer to a compliance-oriented financial ecosystem, than speculative digital assets, blending innovation with prudential oversight.
RMJDT’s is backed by ringgit deposits and short-term Malaysian government bonds, aligning with emerging global best practices for stablecoins built on strong, transparent reserve models.[1] Malaysia’s existing legislation framework already places digital assets within the ambit of its capital markets laws, reinforcing a measured and proactive approach that balances innovation with necessary regulatory control. Deployment through BNM’s Digital Asset Innovation Hub (DAIH) and the Securities Commission’s Regulatory Sandbox further underscores a coordinated supervisory posture across both monetary and capital markets regulators.
Jointly written by:
Authors:
Ashvinie Periyasamy (KGP Legal)
Mahdev Mohan (KGP Legal)
Patrick Tan (ChainArgos)
Summary:
This article explores Malaysia’s RMJDT stablecoin within ASEAN’s compliance-first digital payments ecosystem and was prepared by KGP Legal in collaboration with Chain Argos.
Contact Us:
Email: enquiry@kgplegal.com.sg
Phone: (+65) 6916-1298
Fax: (+65) 6916-1290
The ASEAN Interoperability Opportunity
The timing of RMJDT’s launch is highly relevant to accelerating ASEAN’s efforts in promoting digital finance. Stablecoins are rapidly gaining prominence as a critical tool to address persistent inefficiencies—slowness, costliness, and opacity—of traditional correspondent banking rails in cross-border payments.
RMJDT’s ringgit peg is particularly significant from a regional standpoint where the majority of stablecoins remain overwhelmingly tied to the US dollar. Southeast Asia’s trade corridors, remittance flows and labour mobility patterns create natural demand for settlement instruments denominated in local currencies. As dollar-pegged stablecoins increasingly saturate the US, European, and Latin American markets, alternatives such as RMJDT offer superior product-market fit within ASEAN by reducing foreign exchange friction and aligning more closely with regional economic realities.
Malaysia’s strategic approach, particularly its issuance of RMJDT on the Zetrix blockchain, demonstrates the value proposition of the Malaysian Blockchain Infrastructure and anchors RMJDT as a key lynchpin for Malaysia’s economic strategy and the region’s evolving payments architecture. Zetrix’s interoperability with China’s national Xinghuo blockchain reflects the growing demand for cross-border digital finance not just within Southeast Asia, but with China, the region’s largest trading partner.
Johor has long served as a launchpad for Chinese enterprise and investment in Malaysia and ASEAN, with vast projects including infrastructure, industrial, and real estate sectors. By placing RMJDT at the centre of this ecosystem, and supported by interoperable blockchain architecture, RMJDT is positioned to not only support existing trade and settlement flows, but grow them. The strategic positioning of RMJDT also has the potential to significantly enhance the ringgit’s use in cross-border trade settlements, especially within ASEAN, a key national ambition for Malaysia.
This effort is fully consistent with broader ASEAN goals for financial integration. By building an inter-operable stablecoin layer atop existing real-time payment linkages like the Singapore-Malaysia PayNow/DuitNow payment network, RMJDT delivers programmable digital rails that simplify and accelerate regional commerce.
Recent bilateral developments reinforce this momentum. The JS-SEZ, formalised in January 2025, reflects a renewed push to integrate capital, labour, and payment flows across the Causeway.[2] In parallel, PayNow/DuitNow, jointly operated by the Monetary Authority of Singapore and Bank Negara Malaysia has already demonstrated the feasibility of interoperable retail payment infrastructure between the two jurisdictions. RMJDT builds on these foundations by introducing a programmable settlement layer that can operate alongside existing systems and enhance versatility.
Simultaneously, while policy accords such as the George Town Accord signal longer-term aspirations for ASEAN-wide payment standardisation, practical progress remains incremental. This reality highlights the importance of projects such as RMJDT that can be deployed within controlled, jurisdiction-specific frameworks, before broader regional convergence.
| Stablecoin | Currency | Issuer | Approx launch | Regulatory | Primary use cases |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| RMJDT | MYR | Bullish Aim Sdn. Bhd | December 2025 | Rolled out under a regulated sandbox framework and issued on Zetrix/ Malaysia Blockchain Infrastructure (MBI). | Positioning emphasises cross-border trade settlement and supporting national digital asset policy while accompanied by a digital asset treasury structure. |
| PHPC | PHP | Coins.ph | 2024 | Approved to pilot under BSP Regulatory Sandbox (May 2024) and later exited the sandbox (June 2025) | Remittances, cross-border transfers, P2P/merchant/B2B payments as described by issuer. |
| XIDR | IDR | PT Xfers StraitsX Indonesia | November 2021 | Issuer described as an Indonesian subsidiary; group described as holding Bank Indonesia e-money issuance and fund transfer licences | On-chain IDR transfer/mint-redeem rails, DeFi liquidity/swaps, ecosystem settlement with partners |
| XSGD | SGD | StraitsX | October 2020 | MAS Major Payment Institution status for StraitsX SGD Issuance entity appears in MAS directory; StraitsX also publicly states MAS licensing milestones | Positioned for real-world payments/settlement, multi-chain issuance and integration with platforms/fintech rails |
Table 1: Comparative Overview of Selected ASEAN Local-Currency Stablecoins[3]
Referring to Table 1 above, RMJDT’s rollout parallels a wider regional push where stablecoins pegged to local currencies first establish legitimacy through sandboxes (PHPC) or licensed payments infrastructure (XSGD), rather than organic “crypto-native” distribution.
As can be seen from Table 1, the region is already converging on a multi-stablecoin reality (SGD, IDR, PHP, MYR pegs), which strengthens the case for interoperability, reserve transparency, and cross-border compliance tooling as the real differentiators.
From “Payments” to “Atomic Settlement” Across the Causeway
As Malaysia and Singapore intensify supply-chain integration particularly through the JS-SEZ, RMJDT enables a higher-order cross-border use case: atomic settlement. This means structuring transactions so that delivery of goods and payment in digital ringgit occur simultaneously. When properly designed, this structure reduces pre-funding requirements resulting in less trapped liquidity on both sides of the border. It also lowers FX overhead by reducing conversion and timing exposures and mitigates settlement risk by aligning payment and delivery within a single workflow rather than in sequentially.
For businesses with operations in both Malaysia and Singapore, atomic settlement offers a practical means to move away from reconciliation-heavy cross-border processes toward near instant settlement, provided such transactions are supported by appropriate legal and regulatory structuring and consideration.
Capital A’s Transition from Fintech Dispute to Institutional-Grade Stablecoin Partnerships
RMJDT’s positioning should also be viewed against a broader regional backdrop where regulated stablecoin initiatives tend to accelerate only after corporate groups resolve internal ownership disputes and determine governance and capital structures.
A relevant example is the experience of Capital A. Public reporting indicates that disputes involving the founders of BigPay were pursued through arbitration at the Singapore International Arbitration Centre (SIAC) with proceedings culminating in a final award on costs in July 2025 and subsequent reporting around the close-out of those proceedings. [4]
In parallel, Capital A’s restructuring path required significant corporate exercises including High Court confirmation of a RM2.741 billion share capital reduction to facilitate distribution of AirAsia X shares as part of the broader divestment/reorganisation plan.[5]
Against this backdrop , Capital A and Standard Chartered Malaysia announced the signing of a Letter Of Intent to explore a ringgit-denominated stablecoin through BNM’s Digital Asset Innovation Hub, demonstrating the “post-restructuring pivot” toward institutional-grade partnerships and regulated experimentation.[6]
The broader lesson for ASEAN market participants is not that corporate disputes are unusual, but that scalable and credible digital money initiatives frequently depend on governance clean-up, dispute resolution, and balance-sheet clarity. Stablecoin credibility, in practice, is as much a function of institutional maturity as it is of technology or token design.
Enhancing Compliance and Trust with ChainArgos
For this digital ecosystem to truly scale, trust, security, and uncompromising compliance are paramount—especially in the complex domain of cross-border financial flows. Experience from global stablecoin markets demonstrates that adoption is driven less by theoretical perfection than by effective risk management, transparency, and user confidence. Even stablecoins that have faced regulatory scrutiny continue to see widespread use once they reach critical mass and provide sufficient transactional utility. This underscores the importance of robust, real-time compliance intelligence, and transaction-level visibility as foundational requirements for any stablecoin seeking to scale responsibly across borders.
This is where our strategic partner, ChainArgos, plays a critical role. ChainArgos is a global leader in blockchain intelligence and stablecoin analytics. Their technology provides the crucial regulatory and transactional clarity needed for stablecoins such as RMJDT to operate seamlessly across jurisdictions:
Real-Time Compliance Monitoring: ChainArgos provides sophisticated tools for real-time transaction tracing, wallet screening, and robust AML/CTF (Anti-Money Laundering/Counter-Terrorism Financing) compliance, offering both issuers and regulated institutions the assurance needed to integrate RMJDT into their payment flows.
Reserve and Operational Transparency: Leveraging their deep expertise in stablecoin analysis, ChainArgos can help ensure continuous, verifiable transparency regarding the stability and integrity of RMJDT’s ringgit-backed reserves, reinforcing public and regulatory trust.
Cross-Border Risk Mitigation: By analysing stablecoin transaction quality and flow, ChainArgos helps mitigate risks associated with illicit finance and regulatory divergence, providing “follow the money” intelligence essential for multi-jurisdictional adoption of stablecoins and monitoring of flows across ASEAN.
Critical Legal and Regulatory Considerations
The path to scalable, sustainable stablecoin usage requires navigating multi-jurisdictional legal and regulatory challenges:
Securities vs. Payment Instrument: In Malaysia, digital assets are treated as securities, not legal tender. This classification dictates specific issuer obligations, disclosure requirements, and investor protections – a classification that has practical consequences.
Although RMJDT is designed for use in payment and settlement, its treatment as a regulated digital asset rather than legal tender means that issuers and intermediaries must navigate capital market obligations alongside payment system considerations. This hybrid positioning underscores why sandbox deployment, licensed institutional participation, and clearly defined redemption and reserve mechanisms are essential to RMJDT’s credibility and scalability.
Jurisdictional Compliance: Stablecoin use across ASEAN requires careful navigation of diverse regulatory regimes across multiple jurisdictions, including legislation such as Singapore’s Payment Services Act 2019 for Digital Payment Token and e-money services.
ASEAN Alignment: Harmonisation across ASEAN markets on reserve requirements, redemption mechanisms, data privacy, and AML/CFT obligations remain critical to building trusted, interoperable cross-border settlement and payment rails.
Looking ahead, ASEAN is unlikely to converge on a single dominant stablecoin. Instead, market participants should expect a multi-stablecoin environment where different local and foreign-currency-pegged stablecoins coexist and are used for distinct commercial purposes. Legal frameworks, contractual arrangements, and compliance structures must therefore be designed to accommodate interoperability, switching, and parallel use much as users today optimise across multiple banking and card networks.
Why Strategic Legal Positioning Matters Now
RMJDT’s launch is a clear signal for multinational corporations, banks, and fintechs operating in ASEAN that strategic legal positioning around stablecoin usage is becoming increasingly important.
Regulatory Pathway Structuring: The pathways for issue, custody, and settlement of stablecoins differ markedly across key markets like Singapore and Malaysia. Expert legal structuring is essential to securing the appropriate licenses and approvals, so you can operate without worry or waste.
Commercial & Compliance Integration: Cross-border commercial agreements must now embed compliance contingencies for stablecoin settlement, explicitly addressing reserve transparency, redemption rights, and dispute resolution mechanisms.
Tax and Fiduciary Clarity: Given the evolving global tax treatment of digital assets, bespoke structuring advice is required to manage tax and fiduciary considerations for tokenised payments efficiently.
RMJDT’s emergence is a calculated fusion of policy direction, private-sector initiative, and tokenised infrastructure. It reflects a major ASEAN pivot toward regulated, interoperable stablecoin usage—a shift that will redefine regional commerce and demand a parallel evolution of legal and compliance frameworks.
How KGP Legal and ChainArgos Can Help
As stablecoins rapidly evolve into regulated payment infrastructure across ASEAN, early legal structuring and regulatory alignment—supported by best-in-class compliance intelligence—are non-negotiable for success.
KGP Legal advises fintechs, financial institutions, and corporates on stablecoin issuance, digital payments regulation, and complex cross-border structuring across Singapore, Malaysia, and the ASEAN region, with particular focus on the Johor–Singapore Economic Zone. We help clients navigate licensing, compliance, governance, and cross-border payment frameworks with clarity and commercial focus.
By combining KGP Legal’s deep regulatory experience with ChainArgos’s market-leading blockchain intelligence and stablecoin analytics, we offer a powerful, end-to-end solution for firms seeking to issue, integrate, or transact stablecoins in the region.
If you are exploring stablecoin-based payment solutions or regional expansion, our combined team is ready to support you with practical, regionally informed legal and compliance advice.
References
[1] Bullish Aim Sdn. Bhd., The Regent of Johor Launches Ringgit-Backed Stablecoin and Digital Asset Treasury on Zetrix (PR Newswire, 9 December 2025), available at:
https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/the-regent-of-johor-launches-ringgit-backed-stablecoin-and-digital-asset-treasury-on-zetrix-302636408.html
[2] Government of Singapore and Government of Malaysia, joint announcements on the establishment of the Johor–Singapore Special Economic Zone (January 2025)
[3] Sources: Bullish Aim Sdn Bhd (RMJDT); Coins.ph Inc (PHPC); StraitsX Pte Ltd (XSGD, XIDR); Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas; Bank Indonesia; Monetary Authority of Singapore (public disclosures and regulatory materials).
[4] See Sebastian Perry, “Malaysian airline group challenges SIAC award in fintech dispute,” Global Arbitration Review, 16 September 2025.
[5] Capital A Berhad, ‘High Court Approves Capital A Share Capital Reduction to Enable AAX Share Distribution’ (AirAsia Newsroom, 8 December 2025)
https://newsroom.airasia.com/news/2025/12/8/high-court-approves-capital-a-share-capital-reduction-to-enable-aax-share-distribution-restructuring-on-track
[6] Capital A Berhad and Standard Chartered Bank Malaysia Berhad, ‘Capital A and Standard Chartered Malaysia Set to Explore MYR Stablecoin Sandbox Initiative’ (AirAsia Newsroom, 12 December 2025)
https://newsroom.airasia.com/news/2025/12/12/capital-a-and-standard-chartered-malaysia-set-to-explore-myr-stablecoin-sandbox-initiative