Circle and Nomura aim USDC at Japan's $440B daily FX market, targeting 2027 launch

Circle Internet Financial and Japan's Nomura Holdings have partnered to launch a USDC-based digital asset settlement and corporate payment service in Japan as early as 2027, allowing businesses to convert yen into the U.S. dollar-pegged stablecoin for cross-border transactions. The agreement, first reported by Nikkei, would mark one of the first deployments of a global dollar stablecoin in Japan's corporate foreign exchange market and is intended to compress settlement times for import, export and intercompany transfers from days to minutes.

The service targets Japan's foreign exchange market, which the Bank for International Settlements reported handled $440 billion in daily transactions as of 2025. Standard bank wires between yen and foreign currencies typically take two to three business days to clear. The Circle-Nomura arrangement would use blockchain infrastructure to handle cross-border supplier payments, transfers between overseas affiliates and foreign exchange settlements, with Nomura responsible for client onboarding in Japan, regulatory compliance and integration with existing banking systems. Circle would operate the network through Circle Japan, its local branch that already handles distribution with SBI Holdings. The partners said they expect to complete remaining infrastructure, custody arrangements and banking integrations over the next year ahead of the planned 2027 rollout.

USDC is the world's second-largest dollar-pegged stablecoin, with a market capitalization of $73.8 billion, according to CoinMarketCap data. The move follows Japan Financial Services Agency approval of USDC under updated payment rules, making it the first global dollar stablecoin permitted for local corporate use in Japan. The deal comes amid a broader push by Japanese financial institutions into regulated blockchain-based settlement, with SBI Holdings and Startale Group announcing on Wednesday a yen stablecoin called JPYSC backed by a trust bank, and Ripple USD (RLUSD), the world's 10th-largest dollar stablecoin by market cap, officially launching in Japan the same day.

Japan has been one of the first major economies to establish a legal framework for stablecoins, permitting banks, trust companies and licensed money transfer providers to issue regulated tokens under the Payment Services Act. Regulators have been moving to shift digital assets under the Financial Instruments and Exchange Act, which would bring them closer to the regulatory treatment of traditional financial products. Earlier in June, Japan's Lower House passed a bill that would bring crypto assets under that framework, potentially opening a path to exchange-traded funds, lower tax treatment, tighter exchange oversight, disclosure requirements and insider trading restrictions, and would lower the capital gains tax on crypto assets from the current 55% to a 20% flat rate.

Cointelegraph reached out to Circle and Nomura for comment but had not received a response by press time.