Project Pigeon consortium builds permissionless blockchain governance for APAC banks
Key points
- Baker McKenzie Wong & Leow and a consortium of banks, crypto-native firms, and digital asset exchanges have launched Project Pigeon, a working group building governance frameworks for permissionless blockchain use by financial institutions in Asia Pacific.
- The Basel Committee currently treats digital securities on permissionless blockchains as equivalent to Bitcoin for capital purposes, a classification it announced it would review on an expedited basis in November 2025.
- US regulators have explicitly permitted banks to use public chains without capital penalty where the underlying digital security holds the same legal status as a conventional one; Hong Kong extends a similar allowance for HKMA-approved stablecoin issuers.
- The Monetary Authority of Singapore has delayed bank-specific crypto rulemaking and launched a consultation, leaving Singapore's position unresolved relative to peer jurisdictions.
- The Global Blockchain Business Council and Oliver Wyman published a risk mitigation framework for public blockchain adoption earlier in 2026 with contributions from DTCC, Euroclear, Ripple, and the World Bank, providing a baseline Project Pigeon can build on.
A Singapore-based consortium anchored by law firm Baker McKenzie Wong & Leow has launched Project Pigeon, a working group charged with developing governance frameworks that would allow financial institutions across Asia Pacific to use permissionless blockchains in a structured, risk-managed way. The coalition spans banks, crypto-native firms, and digital asset exchanges, and its formation reflects growing institutional frustration with the gap between regulatory capital rules and what several jurisdictions now practically permit.
The underlying tension is the Basel Committee’s classification of digital securities issued on permissionless blockchains as equivalent to cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin, a treatment that carries prohibitive capital charges for most banks. The Committee announced an expedited review of these rules in November 2025, but multiple jurisdictions have moved independently rather than waiting. US banking regulators have stated that institutions may use public chains without penalty where the digital security receives the same legal treatment as a conventional instrument. Hong Kong has permitted stablecoin issuers approved by the Hong Kong Monetary Authority to operate on permissionless chains. Singapore’s Monetary Authority, by contrast, postponed its own crypto rulemaking for banks and opened a consultation, leaving the local framework unresolved.
Project Pigeon enters a space where prior work already exists. The Global Blockchain Business Council and Oliver Wyman published a risk mitigation framework for public blockchain adoption earlier this year, developed with input from DTCC, Euroclear, Ripple, and the World Bank. The working group’s immediate task is to translate that kind of principle-level guidance into governance structures specific enough for regulated institutions operating across APAC’s fragmented rulebook.