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Three Main Japanese Banks Are Working On JPY, USD Stablecoins
Mitsubishi UFJ Monetary Group (MUFG), Financial institution Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corp. (SMBC), and Mizuho Financial institution intention to modernize company settlements and scale back transaction prices via blockchain-based fee options constructed on MUFG’s stablecoin issuance platform Progmat, in response to a Friday report from Nikkei.
Progmat was launched again in 2023, backed by a large consortium of Japanese establishments.
The consortium’s agenda includes making a shared system for issuing and transferring stablecoins between the banks’ company purchasers, the report mentioned. The tokens will probably be pegged to fiat currencies, starting with the Japanese yen, with a dollar-pegged model prone to observe.
The trio expects to roll out the stablecoin by the top of 2025. Mitsubishi Company would be the first to onboard the novel stablecoin rails for inside settlements, spanning the banks’ 300,000+ enterprise relationships.
 
If profitable, the initiative might set up Japan’s first bank-backed stablecoin community below a unified framework.
Booming Stablecoin Market
The banks’ stablecoin efforts observe institutional momentum on stablecoins, with nation-states scrambling to place the required rules in place.
In August, Nikkei revealed that Japan’s Monetary Providers Company (FSA) was readying to approve the issuance of yen-denominated stablecoins. Within the U.S., President Trump signed into legislation the Guiding and Establishing Nationwide Innovation for U.S. Stablecoin (GENIUS) Act, which creates a regulatory framework for stablecoins issued by U.S. corporations.
The venture by the highest Japanese banks comes as the worldwide stablecoin market, dominated by U.S.-dollar-pegged tokens like Tether’s USDT and Circle’s USDC, has grown to over $300 billion.
Main U.S. heavyweights, together with Goldman Sachs, Financial institution of America, Citi, Barclays, Deutsche Financial institution, and Wells Fargo, wish to develop a joint stablecoin linked to G7 currencies, which is anticipated to launch within the second half of 2026.
In the meantime, a consortium of 9 European banks, together with giants ING and UniCredit, is reportedly contemplating issuing a euro-backed stablecoin to fend off the dominance of U.S. dollar-pegged tokens.
