Japan’s three largest banking groups are moving ahead with a joint stablecoin plan, with a target pointing to March next year. According to a statement from MUFG, MUFG, SMBC, and Mizuho will create a council to coordinate preparations and assess the operational framework needed for issuance.
The statement says the three banks will serve as co-founders, while a trust bank or similar institution will take on trustee duties. Key details, including the exact operating model and specific use cases, have not been laid out yet. Those points are expected to be examined as the new council starts its work.
Megabanks Set Up a Shared Structure for Issuance
MUFG is one of Japan’s central players in corporate finance, payment systems, and digital financial services. SMBC and Mizuho also rank among the country’s leading financial groups. That makes the effort notable: this is not a small pilot from a single bank, but a coordinated project backed by major institutions.
Based on the information released so far, the structure splits responsibilities between the founding banks and an outside trustee. That suggests the project is being built with a formal governance and custody arrangement from the outset, and the council’s early work will likely focus on how those roles are organized.
Support From Regulators and the Ruling Party
Japan’s Financial Services Agency had already signaled support for the planned bank stablecoin initiative as early as last November. More recently, the ruling Liberal Democratic Party said government promotion of yen-based stablecoin usage is necessary. The plan now has backing that reaches beyond the banking sector itself.
A stablecoin is a digital token usually pegged to a fiat currency or another traditional asset. Its purpose is to reduce price swings and make digital payments steadier. In Japan’s case, the policy focus appears to be centered on expanding yen-denominated payment instruments rather than chasing speculative crypto activity.
Dollar-Pegged Tokens Still Dominate the Market
Even with Japan’s biggest banks preparing a new entry, yen-backed products remain tiny in the current market. The article states that the global stablecoin market totals about $311 billion, while Tether’s USDT and Circle’s USDC together account for 84% of that amount. Dollar-based tokens still set the pace.
By comparison, all yen-pegged tokens combined represent less than $50 million. The most visible example so far is JPYC, issued by a Tokyo fintech company, with a market capitalization of about $18 million. That gap shows how early the yen stablecoin segment still is, even as major banks begin trying to scale it through institutional coordination.
For now, the council’s immediate task is to sort out issuance preparations and the operating framework. The actual payment model and rollout details have yet to be specified.