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Stablecoins· Bank & market adoption

Japan's three megabanks complete proof-of-concept for a jointly issued yen stablecoin

Mizuho Bank, MUFG Bank, Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation (SMBC), Mitsubishi UFJ Trust and Banking and TISI said on 16 October 2026 that they ran a proof-of-concept from July 17 to July 23, 2026 on joint stablecoin issuance and cross-border payments between Mitsubishi Corporation's Japanese and overseas locations.

Illustration: cryptobanking.news editorial art (AI-generated, abstract). Not a depiction of any institution or product.Primary source: Mitsubishi UFJ Trust and Banking (joint release with Mizuho Bank, MUFG Bank, SMBC and TISI) (tr.mufg.jp)
cryptobanking.news Editorial · AI-assisted, source-verifiedT2Bank / FMIAPAC

Key takeawaysFact

  1. 1Mizuho Bank, MUFG Bank, Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation (SMBC), Mitsubishi UFJ Trust and Banking and TISI said on 16 October 2026 that they ran a proof-of-concept from July 17 to July 23, 2026 on joint stablecoin issuance and cross-border payments between Mitsubishi Corporation's Japanese and overseas locations.
  2. 2The stablecoin was issued as specified trust receivable rights under Article 2(9) of Japan's Payment Services Act, with the three banks as joint principal trustees and Mitsubishi UFJ Trust and Banking as agent trustee; SMBC provided the blockchain platform, built by TISI.
  3. 3The parties said the PoC confirmed the feasibility of a joint issuance model by multiple banks.
  • Stablecoins

Executive summaryFact

Mizuho Bank, MUFG Bank, Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation (SMBC), Mitsubishi UFJ Trust and Banking and TISI said on 16 October 2026 that they ran a proof-of-concept from July 17 to July 23, 2026 on joint stablecoin issuance and cross-border payments between Mitsubishi Corporation's Japanese and overseas locations. The stablecoin was issued as specified trust receivable rights under Article 2(9) of Japan's Payment Services Act, with the three banks as joint principal trustees and Mitsubishi UFJ Trust and Banking as agent trustee; SMBC provided the blockchain platform, built by TISI. The parties said the PoC confirmed the feasibility of a joint issuance model by multiple banks.

Primary source: Mitsubishi UFJ Trust and Banking (joint release with Mizuho Bank, MUFG Bank, SMBC and TISI) ↗

The PoC was implemented based on an initiative that was approved in November 2025 to receive support from the Financial Services Agency of Japan's FinTech PoC Hub.

— Mitsubishi UFJ Trust and Banking (joint release with Mizuho Bank, MUFG Bank, SMBC and TISI), verbatimString-matched against the live page 2026-10-23

Key factsFact

Event
Pilot
Jurisdiction
APAC
Source
Mitsubishi UFJ Trust and Banking (joint release with Mizuho Bank, MUFG Bank, SMBC and TISI)
Source tier
Tier 2 · Bank / FMI
Product
Stablecoin issuance

Who is affectedFact

MUFG Bank, Mizuho Bank, SMBC, Mitsubishi UFJ Trust and Banking, TISI and Mitsubishi Corporation (PoC use case).

Key datesFact

  • PoC starts
  • PoC ends
  • Completion announced

More from the sourceFact

“through the PoC, the parties obtained practical insights regarding the issuance and circulation of SC and confirmed the safety and reliability of the system as well as the feasibility of a joint issuance model by multiple banks.”

Joint release
Verbatim from Mitsubishi UFJ Trust and Banking (joint release with Mizuho Bank, MUFG Bank, SMBC and TISI)✓ string-matched against the live page 2026-10-23

Why it matters for banksAnalysis

A deposit-backed, trust-type yen stablecoin jointly issued by Japan's largest banks has now been tested end to end under the Payment Services Act, which the banks link to their earlier stated aim of live transactions in fiscal year 2026.

Editorial analysis based on the facts above and the sources below; not legal or investment advice.

What remains uncertain

  • The release gives no launch date for live use of the stablecoin; the design is described as subject to change.

Sources and evidence

Evidence types: how we classify sources.

Evidence

Confidence
Medium The institution’s own statement; quote string-matched. Proves what the institution says, not independent confirmation.
Quote verified
2026-10-23 21:23 UTC
Archived snapshot
Not archived yet
Change log (2)
  1. 2026-10-24 Verify run (deploy): verifiedAt refresh, verify snapshots (c2a86c2)
  2. 2026-10-24 Jurisdictions: 5 verified Tier 1/2 items (CH Federal Council stablecoin/crypto licence consultation, BNM DAIH ringgit stablecoins + tokenised deposits, FSCA CAS (52685db)

Full evidence record · How we label confidence

AIAI-assisted: summary and analysis were drafted with AI from the primary source and are the editor’s responsibility. AI-drafted from the primary source (joint bank release); quote string-matched by scripts/verify.mjs. Methodology · Corrections · Report an error

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