Japan’s financial giants MUFG, Sumitomo Mitsui, and Mizuho have joined forces to issue a new stablecoin pegged to both the Japanese yen and the U.S. dollar, according to Nikkei. The project is designed to streamline cross-border settlements and modernize the country’s digital payments infrastructure.
The initiative will debut with Mitsubishi Corporation as the first use case, where the stablecoin will be applied in corporate fund settlements. Together, the three megabanks serve more than 300,000 business clients, giving the project an enormous potential reach across Japan’s industrial and financial sectors.
Unlike physical currency, the new stablecoin will exist solely in digital form, ensuring faster, more efficient transactions while maintaining parity with fiat reserves. The issuing institutions will hold equivalent assets in bank deposits to guarantee the coin’s stability and regulatory compliance.
This collaboration marks one of the most significant steps yet in Japan’s move toward a regulated digital currency ecosystem, potentially setting a model for how traditional banks can merge stability and innovation in the age of blockchain-based finance.