Japan’s three largest banking groups are reportedly planning to jointly launch a stablecoin as institutional interest in blockchain-based digital money grows.
According to a Friday report from the Nikkei, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group (MUFG), Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group and Mizuho Financial Group will create a shared framework for the issuance and transfer of stablecoins among their corporate clients. The tokens will be pegged to real-world currencies, starting with the Japanese yen, with a dollar-denominated version potentially following.
The stablecoins will be built on a system that allows interoperability between banks under common technical and legal standards, according to the report. While details on the infrastructure remain limited, the initiative marks a coordinated effort to digitize interbank settlements in a way that mirrors existing fiat rails. Notably, MUFG founded a blockchain infrastructure and tokenization platform Progmat in 2023, backed by a broad consortium of Japanese institutions.
The move comes as stablecoin adoption is rapidly spreading globally, with regulations being implemented in countries. US dollar-pegged tokens dominate the market, with Tether’s USDT and Circle’s USDC taking up the lion’s share of the $300 billion sector.
A group of nine European banks, including heavyweights ING and UniCredit, are reportedly planning to issue a euro stablecoin to counter the dominance of US dollar-backed tokens. Major US banks are also considering jointly issuing a stablecoin.
In August, fintech company JPYC was reported to have obtained a license as a money transfer operator with the Financial Services Agency (FSA), a necessary step to legally offer its Japanese yen-backed token. Japanese financial giant SBI Holdings also announced plans to distribute Ripple’s US dollar-pegged stablecoin (RLUSD) in Japan as early as the first quarter of 2026, pending regulatory clearance.
