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As financial fragmentation continues to hinder Southeast Asia’s regional growth, Venom Foundation has proposed a Layer-0 blockchain tailored to the needs of sovereign institutions.
On June 5th, the company issued an open letter to central banks in Singapore, Malaysia, the Philippines, and Vietnam, inviting them to co-develop a next-generation financial infrastructure and collaborate on building compliant, modular infrastructure for real-time settlement, cross-border payments, and on-chain regulatory oversight.
The foundation believes this shared infrastructure will both modernize domestic operations and provide a much-needed interoperability layer for regional finance.
At the core of the proposal is a blockchain platform already live, built specifically for public-sector use. Among its immediate applications are sovereign-backed stablecoin issuance and built-in compliance tools for KYC/AML. These components are compatible with ISO 20022 messaging standards, allowing integration with existing banking systems — an obstacle that has limited the adoption of many previous blockchain proposals in the public sector.
Christopher Louis Tsu, CEO of Venom Foundation, emphasizes the strategic nature of this move:
“We are pioneering the future of financial infrastructure. Our mission is to empower governments and institutions through next-generation blockchain technology, strengthening their sovereign capabilities and unlocking new opportunities for their citizens.”
This sovereign-first approach is reinforced by a governance model that blends decentralization with state control. Under Venom’s framework, validation rights are partially assigned to designated public-sector entities. This ensures that while the network maintains blockchain-level efficiency and uptime, national institutions retain essential oversight.
Southeast Asia’s urgency to modernize is well documented. In 2023, the Philippines accounted for nearly 5% of global remittance inflows, and digital payment volumes across the region are projected to hit 765 billion transactions by 2027. Yet, inefficiencies remain rampant. Many cross-border transfers are delayed, reconciliation is manual, and auditability is weak, increasing systemic risk and operating costs.
In addition to stablecoins, Venom infrastructure enables modular deployment of features such as real-time analytics dashboards for regulators, identity verification systems, and tokenization rails for assets like land records or carbon credits. These tools are designed to be implemented independently, giving governments flexibility to move at their own pace.
Pilot programs are underway in the Philippines, and a broader regional rollout is planned for 2025. This move aligns with the broader vision of a more integrated, transparent, and resilient financial system across Southeast Asia.
