Three major Japanese banks pursue joint issuance of a yen-linked stablecoin

It was reported that three major Japanese banks plan to jointly issue a yen-linked (pegged) stablecoin.

On the 17th (local time), the Nikkei reported that Mitsubishi UFJ Bank (MUFG), Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation (SMBC), and Mizuho Bank are discussing jointly issuing a yen-based stablecoin to standardize corporate payment infrastructure in Japan. The three banks have about 300,000 corporate clients. Through this project, they plan to secure interoperability of payment tokens to improve the efficiency of inter-company payments.

The bank consortium plans to officially launch the yen stablecoin by the end of this year. The first application will be Mitsubishi Corporation, which intends to introduce the stablecoin for internal settlements such as dividends, acquisitions, and customer payments to reduce fees and administrative costs. If successful, Japan's first bank-allied stablecoin network is expected to be established.

Meanwhile, Japan's Financial Services Agency (FSA) is recently preparing legal approval procedures to allow issuance of yen-linked stablecoins. Fintech firm JPYC is leading the development of related infrastructure, and Monex Group is also reportedly considering launching its own yen-linked stablecoin.