Japan Banks, Regulators Move Toward Stablecoins and Crypto Access

Japan’s Financial Services Agency is preparing to reconsider 2020 guidance and may allow domestic banks to buy, trade and hold cryptocurrencies, with deliberations slated for the Financial System Council. Regulators plan to pair any market access with strict guardrails, including capital and risk‑management requirements, exposure limits and proposed bans on trading with non‑public information tied to penalties. At the same time, the country’s three largest banking groups (MUFG, SMBC and Mizuho) are jointly developing yen‑pegged (and potentially dollar‑pegged) stablecoins on MUFG’s Progmat platform, backed one‑for‑one by deposits and piloted first with Mitsubishi Corporation to speed corporate and cross‑border settlements. These initiatives build on a rapidly maturing domestic market (more than 12 million crypto accounts) and represent a coordinated TradFi push to mainstream tokenized fiat. The momentum is mirrored globally by firms like Coinbase launching USDC B2B payout and payments tools to enable instant cross‑border stablecoin transfers and simplified recipient onboarding.