Key takeaways
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RMJDT is a ringgit stablecoin pitched for payments and cross-border trade.
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Its treasury and validator setup is designed to make onchain settlement function like reliable infrastructure.
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Across Asia, stablecoins are being brought under licensing and reserve and redemption rules.
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Tokenized assets are increasing demand for tokenized settlement in local currencies, not just USD.
RMJDT is being pitched as a ringgit-pegged token tied to Johor’s Crown Prince. It was launched by his company, Bullish Aim, and issued on Zetrix, a network connected to Malaysia’s national blockchain infrastructure.
The token is intended for payments and cross-border trade settlement, with the project also announcing a 500 million Malaysian ringgit ($121 million) Zetrix-token treasury to support the network’s day-to-day operations.
Across Asia, there is a broader shift toward regulated tokenized money, including stablecoins with clearer reserve and redemption rules and onchain settlement systems built for trade and tokenized assets. RMJDT is one example of that trend.
What is RMJDT?
RMJDT is being marketed as a straightforward product, a ringgit-pegged stablecoin issued on the Zetrix blockchain by Bullish Aim, a company chaired and owned by Johor Regent Tunku Ismail Ibni Sultan Ibrahim.
The token is designed for everyday payments and cross-border trade. It also aims to make the ringgit easier to use in a world where more commerce is happening online and across borders.
What is said to distinguish RMJDT is its structure. According to project disclosures and reporting, RMJDT is expected to be backed by ringgit cash and short-term Malaysian government bonds, a conservative reserve model that regulators and larger financial institutions tend to prefer because it is easier to explain and, in theory, easier to redeem.
The other half of the picture is a new Digital Asset Treasury Company (DATCO), funded with 500 million ringgit worth of Zetrix tokens, with plans to expand that to 1 billion ringgit.
The project says this pool is intended to help keep transaction costs more stable and to support the network by staking tokens linked to up to 10% of validator nodes.
Put plainly, the goal is to make using RMJDT resemble the characteristics of a dependable payment system and less like something that changes character every time the crypto market becomes noisy.
Did you know? Bank Negara Malaysia has already worked with the BIS Innovation Hub on Project Dunbar, which built prototypes for cross-border settlement using multiple central bank digital currencies with Australia, Singapore and South Africa.
Why now for a ringgit stablecoin: Tokenized assets need tokenized settlement
A ringgit stablecoin makes more sense when you look at what Malaysia is trying to build next.
Bank Negara Malaysia has been laying the groundwork for asset tokenization within the regulated financial sector. RMJDT fits into that step-by-step approach, which begins with familiar instruments such as deposits, loans and bonds, and aims to bring tokenized products into regulated markets from 2027 if the roadmap stays on track.
However, a recurring problem appears in nearly every tokenization pilot. It is difficult to scale tokenized assets if the money leg of the trade still has to leave the chain.
Issuers can place a bond, fund unit or invoice onchain, but if settlement keeps reverting to bank transfers, the promise of instant settlement breaks down amid integration work, cut-off times and reconciliation.
This is why regional projects such as Singapore’s Project Guardian keep returning to the same point. The choice of settlement asset, whether stablecoins, tokenized deposits or other forms of regulated onchain money, can determine whether tokenized markets actually take off.
In this sense, RMJDT represents Malaysia testing what onchain settlement looks like in ringgit terms and mapping out what it may seek to tokenize next.
Licensing the issuer, not the token
Regulators in Asia are increasingly deciding who is allowed to issue stablecoins and under what reserve rules, redemption terms and supervisory frameworks.
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Hong Kong offers a clear example. Under the Stablecoins Ordinance, fiat-referenced stablecoin issuance became a regulated activity on Aug. 1, 2025, and issuers are required to hold an HKMA license. The HKMA has also established a public register for licensed issuers. The first licenses are expected to be issued only in an initial batch later, with authorities warning the market not to move ahead of the regulatory process.
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Singapore is taking a similar foundation-first approach, but it is framing stablecoins as one part of a broader tokenized system. The Monetary Authority of Singapore is preparing stablecoin legislation that emphasizes sound reserves and reliable redemption, while also piloting tokenized MAS bills and settlement experiments that combine bank liabilities, regulated stablecoins and wholesale central bank digital currency (CBDC) initiatives.
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Japan’s…
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