On April 20, 2026, the Japan Securities Clearing Corporation (JSCC), Mizuho Financial Group, Nomura Holdings, and Digital Asset Holdings announced a joint proof-of-concept (PoC) trial to manage Japanese government bond (JGB) collateral on the Canton Network blockchain. The initiative is part of the Financial Services Agency (FSA) of Japan’s Payment Innovation Project, selected for support in February 2026.
PoC Details and Participants
The trial runs through approximately the end of September 2026 and involves four key participants: JSCC (led by President and CEO Isao Hasegawa), Mizuho (led by President and Group CEO Masahiro Kihara), Nomura (led by Representative Executive Officer and President Kentaro Okuda), and Digital Asset (led by CEO Yuval Rooz). Digital Asset provides the Canton Network platform, which was built specifically for institutional finance with privacy-preserving settlement capabilities.
At its core, the PoC tests whether rights in JGBs transferred under Japan’s Act on Book-Entry Transfer of Corporate Bonds and Shares can move across a blockchain without losing their legal standing under existing Japanese law. Participants will also assess whether changes to book-entry transfer records can happen in real time within a multi-institution account structure. The goal is to move JGB collateral posting and substitution from a process tied to business hours into one that runs 24/7, covering domestic and cross-border transactions involving clearing houses, institutional investors, clients, and agents.
Technology Platform: Canton Network
The Canton Network offers privacy-preserving settlement capabilities that allow institutions to transact without sharing all data across a public ledger, which suits the compliance requirements of major financial institutions handling sovereign debt instruments. Japan’s financial regulators have closely watched U.S. moves in this area: the Depository Trust and Clearing Corporation (DTCC) has explored tokenized collateral use cases for U.S. Treasuries on the same Canton Network. JSCC was the first international participant in DTCC’s Digital Launchpad sandbox in 2024, and both organizations co-authored research on the subject with JPX, JSCC’s parent company.
Regulatory Context and Expected Benefits
The PoC is one of several blockchain trials under the FSA’s Payment Innovation Project. Mizuho and Nomura are separately involved in a stablecoin-based securities settlement pilot, reflecting how Japan’s major financial institutions are running multiple blockchain tests under regulatory oversight simultaneously. Expected operational benefits include lower administrative costs for collateral management, reduced manual processing tied to posting and substitution workflows, and improved coordination between JGBs and digital-native assets held by the same institutions.
Results from the PoC will be used to evaluate what regulatory adjustments, system updates, and rule changes would be required before any commercial deployment. No commercial launch date has been set; participants emphasize that any next steps will depend on findings from the testing period. JGBs are held as high-quality eligible collateral by institutional investors globally, and keeping them accessible and liquid in digital asset markets is a stated priority for Japan’s financial authorities.