Japanese megabanks team up to build a yen stablecoin
MUFG, SMBC and Mizuho sign an agreement for a joint yen stablecoin. First commercial transactions planned before the end of March 2027.
Japan's three largest banks — MUFG, SMBC and Mizuho — signed a letter of intent on 10 June to jointly issue a stablecoin pegged to the Japanese yen. It is the first time the three megabanks join forces in this area.
What has been agreed
The banks are setting up a joint council that will work out the operational frameworks, governance and technical infrastructure. The setup uses a trust structure: the banks act as joint settlors, while a licensed trust bank serves as the manager. The project builds on a pilot by regulator FSA from November 2025.
The goal is concrete: real commercial transactions before the end of the Japanese fiscal year, so by March 2027 at the latest.
A counterweight to the dollar
The timing is no coincidence. Dollar stablecoins dominate with around 85 to 90% of a market worth roughly €265 billion. In early June, a panel of the ruling LDP party advised the Minister of Finance to actively promote yen stablecoins for payments in Asia.
Together with the new Japanese crypto law — which recognizes crypto as a financial product — this points to a broader strategy: Japan wants to play a serious role in digital financial infrastructure instead of leaving it to the dollar.
What does this mean for users?
In the short term, little: the stablecoin is initially intended for business-to-business payments. But if the largest banks of a G7 country successfully roll out a shared stablecoin, that is an important signal that banks see blockchain infrastructure as a lasting part of the payment system.
Source: CoinDesk, FinTech Futures