Protocols & Policy · Stablecoins
SMBC, Mizuho and MUFG say a July trial confirmed that several banks can issue one yen stablecoin together and use it for cross-border company payments.
Japan's three megabanks say they can jointly issue a single yen stablecoin and use it to move money across borders. SMBC, Mizuho Bank and MUFG Bank reported on Oct. 16 that a week-long trial in July confirmed the feasibility of that joint issuance model, which the banks tie to their June goal of live transactions in fiscal 2026.
The practical consequence is that a company banking with any one of the three could, under the design the banks describe, pay and be paid in the same yen token. The banks say joint issuance "secures broad circulation based on each bank’s customer base."
The five companies behind the test are SMBC, Mizuho Bank, MUFG Bank, Mitsubishi UFJ Trust and Banking Corporation, and TISI Inc. They released the results in a joint English statement dated Oct. 16, 2026. That date in Tokyo began at 11 a.m. ET on Oct. 15. The release gives no time of day.
The trial ran from July 17 to July 23, 2026. A stablecoin is a token meant to hold a steady value against a currency, here the Japanese yen.
The banks issued the coins as "specified trust receivable rights" under Article 2, Paragraph 9 of Japan's Payment Services Act. In plain terms, each coin is a claim on money held in a trust, and the law treats that claim as an electronic payment instrument.
Mizuho Bank, MUFG Bank and SMBC acted as joint principal trustees under the trust agreement. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust and Banking acted as the agent trustee, the trust bank that runs the trust's operations.
The release says the trust assets are invested and managed in bank deposits, "with emphasis on maintaining the stability of the coin’s value." The design also has no circulation cap, a choice the banks link to expected large-scale use. They note that this design is the one "currently assumed" and may change.
Only users who have completed identity verification and other procedures at the banks would hold and pass the coin, under the current design.
The test modeled payments between Mitsubishi Corporation's offices in Japan and overseas. Mitsubishi Corporation appears in the release only as the company whose locations framed the scenario.
In that scenario, the banks say they ran through the issuance, transfer and redemption of the coin. They also checked how cross-border remittances would work when there are multiple entrustors, how anti-money-laundering and counter-terrorist-financing controls would apply across use cases, and whether the system worked as intended.
Beyond that scenario, the release does not say what role the company itself played or whether it will use the coin.
The banks split the work, and the table below shows the division. Read it as a map of who would run a live coin: three issuing banks, one trust bank and one technology firm.
| Company | Role in the test |
|---|---|
| Mizuho Bank, MUFG Bank, SMBC | Set the evaluation criteria and scheme; tested issuance, circulation, transfer and redemption; checked cross-border compliance |
| SMBC | Provided the blockchain platform, built by TISI, to the other participants |
| Mitsubishi UFJ Trust and Banking | As agent trustee, designed trust operations and tested system functions; considered user protection and trust-asset management |
| TISI | Linked wallet infrastructure with the issuance system and business processes |
TISI is the technology partner in the group. The release credits it with blockchain technology and financial-systems expertise, and says it built the platform SMBC supplied.
The Financial Services Agency of Japan, the country's financial regulator, supported the project through its FinTech PoC Hub. The hub is the agency's program for backing proofs of concept, small trials that test whether an idea works before anyone builds it for real.
The FSA approved the initiative for that support in November 2025, according to the release. The banks' June statement describes the same project as selected last November as a supported project under the hub.
The banks say they "confirmed the safety and reliability of the system as well as the feasibility of a joint issuance model by multiple banks." That is the five companies' own assessment. The release does not publish test volumes, transaction counts or error rates.
They also say they will keep running detailed assessments and sort out the issues that remain before practical use. The release names user protection, anti-money-laundering controls, cybersecurity and system stability as matters they will weigh.
The test feeds a timetable the three banks set in June. The table below lays out the sequence.
| Date | Step | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Nov. 2025 | FSA approves FinTech PoC Hub support | 1, 2 |
| June 10, 2026 | Three banks state aim of live transactions in fiscal 2026; sign MOU to set up a council | 2 |
| July 17-23, 2026 | Joint issuance and cross-border test | 1 |
| Oct. 16, 2026 | Results announced | 1 |
On June 10, Mizuho Bank, MUFG Bank and SMBC said they would accelerate work "with the aim of launching live transactions" of the jointly issued stablecoin "during fiscal year 2026." They also signed a memorandum of understanding to set up a voluntary council to examine operations and governance.
The Oct. 16 release does not restate that target in its own words. It cites the June statement and says the banks will keep studying a coin designed for practical use, focused on payments and remittances and backed by deposits.
The release ties the stablecoin work to two other bank trials. One, announced Feb. 13, 2026, covers trading and transfer of rights in traditional assets using blockchain and digital money. The other, announced Sept. 29, 2026, covers trade settlement using TradeWaltz.
The banks have not said when in the fiscal year live transactions would start, or which customers would go first.
They have not named the blockchain the live coin would run on, beyond SMBC's test platform built by TISI.
The release does not say whether Mitsubishi Corporation will take part in a live launch.
It gives no figures from the test itself, so outsiders cannot judge the scale of what was tried.
The design is described as current and subject to change, so the final legal and technical form remains open.
Sources
Holding the Corner.
Not financial advice.