Japan’s three megabanks are uniting to launch stablecoins pegged to both the Japanese yen and the US dollar, signaling a major move into tokenized fiat rails as global interest surges.
According to a report by Nikkei, Mitsubishi UFJ (MUFG), Sumitomo Mitsui (SMBC), and Mizuho aim to establish a unified standard for corporate clients and cross-border payments. This consortium’s effort suggests that yen and dollar liquidity could become natively available within Japan’s established banking system, rather than solely relying on foreign issuers.
The initial application of this plan will involve a pilot with Mitsubishi Corporation, forming a potential distribution network leveraging the banks’ combined relationship with over 300,000 enterprises.
This introduction of stablecoins—digital tokens designed to track a reference asset like the dollar for payments and settlement—marks a significant shift in Japan’s corporate payments landscape. It follows the country’s gradual acceptance of fiat-backed tokens and comes as authorities prepare for domestic yen stablecoin approvals.
The move aligns with broader interest among financial incumbents. Japan Post Bank, for instance, has already announced plans to roll out DCJPY—a tokenized yen deposit—by fiscal year 2026. Furthermore, global players are targeting the clarifying Japanese market, with Ripple and SBI setting sights on an early-2026 rollout of RLUSD in Japan.
The collaboration underscores the growing dominance of stablecoins as a key payments primitive in the crypto space, with the total circulating value recently exceeding $300 billion.
Internationally, policymakers are actively defining their regulatory roles. South Korea is preparing its own stablecoin bill. Hong Kong is establishing a dedicated licensing regime for stablecoins. And, In the US, the GENIUS Act has laid out the first federal framework for issuers.
Market forecasts suggest explosive growth, with officials like Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent anticipating the stablecoin market to surge past $2 trillion in circulation by 2028 as regulations solidify and the market diversifies.
