Project Pigeon Consortium launches APAC Working Group to establish governance standards for permissionless blockchains
Executive summary: Project Pigeon Consortium launched an APAC Working Group to advance governance standards for permissionless blockchains, involving Elliptic, DAA, RFI, and Baker McKenzie Wong & Leow. The initiative seeks to create a unified risk-management framework to support safe innovation and enable Group 1 crypto asset treatment, reducing regulatory uncertainty in APAC.
Who is involved: Elliptic, Digital Asset Association (DAA), Responsible Fintech Institute (RFI), Baker McKenzie Wong & Leow, and APAC blockchain stakeholders.
Likely next: Development of draft standards, regional consultations, and potential alignment with global bodies like the BIS or IOSCO in 2027.
On August 12, 2026, Elliptic, Digital Asset Association (DAA), Responsible Fintech Institute (RFI), and Baker McKenzie Wong & Leow announced the launch of the APAC Working Group under Project Pigeon Consortium to develop an industry-standard risk-management framework for permissionless blockchains. The initiative aims to support safe innovation and align with Group 1 crypto asset treatment under emerging regulatory frameworks. Based in Singapore, the working group focuses on creating interoperable governance standards tailored to the APAC region’s growing blockchain ecosystem. This effort reflects increasing institutional coordination to address regulatory fragmentation in decentralized technologies.
Timeline
- — Project Pigeon Consortium Launches APAC Working Group to Advance Governance Standards for Permissionless Blockchains (PR Newswire)
- — Agentic AI Foundation Welcomes 57 New Members, Gaining Major Financial Services Players and APAC Leaders (PR Newswire)
- — Telstra Health Receives Frost & Sullivan's 2026 APAC Company of the Year Recognition... (PR Newswire)
- — Zoom appoints Carlos Quaderi as Head of APAC to drive next phase of AI-powered growth (GlobeNewswire)
- — EPAA and HSBC launch APAC working group on agentic payments (Yahoo Finance)
Analysis — what this means
Likely next events
- Draft risk-management framework to be published by Q1 2027
- Regional workshop in Singapore scheduled for October 2026
- Engagement with MAS and SFC expected by November 2026
- Public consultation on governance standards to open in December 2026
Sectors affected
- Permissionless blockchain infrastructure
- Cryptocurrency exchanges operating in APAC
- DeFi protocols with APAC user bases
- Enterprise blockchain adopters in finance and supply chain
Regulatory implications
- May inform MAS’ upcoming guidance on decentralized finance (DeFi) risk controls
- Could align with ASEAN Blockchain Working Group’s 2025 roadmap
- May support harmonization with Australia’s token mapping exercise
Historical parallels
- Similar to the formation of the Global Digital Finance (GDF) standards in 2021
- Parallels the ISO/TC 307 blockchain standardization efforts initiated in 2016
- Mirrors the creation of the Enterprise Ethereum Alliance (EEA) in 2017 for permissioned chains
Key entities
Sources
- Project Pigeon Consortium Launches APAC Working Group to Advance Governance Standards for Permissionless Blockchains — PR Newswire
- EPAA and HSBC launch APAC working group on agentic payments — Yahoo Finance
- Zoom appoints Carlos Quaderi as Head of APAC to drive next phase of AI-powered growth — GlobeNewswire
- Telstra Health Receives Frost & Sullivan's 2026 APAC Company of the Year Recognition... — PR Newswire
- Agentic AI Foundation Welcomes 57 New Members, Gaining Major Financial Services Players and APAC Leaders — PR Newswire
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