Three Megabanks Walk Into a Blockchain, Plan Yen Stablecoin by 2027 ¥

MUFG Bank, Mizuho Bank, and Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation have established a formal joint council to develop and co-issue a yen-backed crypto stablecoin by the end of Japan fiscal year 2026, March 2027. The stablecoin will be issued under a trust agreement, with all three banks acting as joint settlors and a trust bank or similar institution serving as trustee. The three largest financial groups in Japan have committed shared infrastructure to a token they intend to bring to market within roughly 21 months.

The initiative operates under Japan's Financial Services Agency Payment Innovation Project and follows a late-2025 pilot examining whether multi-bank stablecoin co-issuance could be carried out, in the banks' words, "legally and appropriately." Collectively, MUFG, Mizuho, and SMBC oversee more than $7 trillion in assets, making this the largest institutional yen stablecoin initiative in Asia to date. The banks have stated their intent to run live commercial transactions of the jointly issued stablecoin within the same fiscal year.

Japan's stablecoin regulation crystallized in June 2023, when amendments to the Payment Services Act introduced a formal licensing regime for fiat-pegged stablecoins, classifying them as electronic payment instruments. The law restricts domestic issuance to three categories of entities: licensed banks, trust companies or trust banks, and registered fund transfer service providers. The FSA's Payment Innovation Project, housed within the FinTech Proof-of-Concept Hub operational since 2017, provided the formal channel through which the late-2025 pilot was conducted.

The joint council will coordinate the technical, legal, and operational frameworks needed to bring the token to market by the end of Japan fiscal year 2026. Further details on governance, distribution arrangements, and the specific trustee institution are expected as the project moves toward a commercial launch targeted for March 2027.