Key Highlights

  • Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group, Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group, and Mizuho Financial Group are forming a consortium to issue a jointly operated yen-pegged stablecoin, with a target launch by the end of Japan's fiscal year 2026, which closes in March 2027.

  • The token will run on Progmat, a distributed ledger platform developed by MUFG and NTT Data, with a US dollar-denominated version planned to follow later in 2027, targeting one trillion yen in business-to-business stablecoin volume by 2028.

  • The initiative builds on an FSA-supervised joint pilot that launched in November 2025, with the three institutions now near signing a formal agreement and preparing to establish a dedicated operational council.

Japan's three largest banks are moving toward a jointly issued stablecoin pegged to the yen, with a launch target of March 2027. Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group, Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group, and Mizuho Financial Group are forming a consortium under Project Pax, with the institutions reported to be near finalizing a formal cooperation agreement. A dedicated council will be established to handle operational planning and define the initial commercial use cases for the token.

The stablecoin will run on Progmat, a distributed ledger platform developed by MUFG alongside NTT Data, which has already been used for digital securities issuance in Japan. The yen-denominated token is the first phase of a broader product roadmap. A US dollar version is planned to follow later in 2027, extending the platform's reach beyond domestic corporate payments. Under Project Pax, the consortium has set a target of one trillion yen in business-to-business stablecoin volume by 2028, reflecting an ambition that goes well beyond a limited proof of concept and signals a genuine commitment to reshaping how large Japanese corporations settle intercompany transactions.

The project has regulatory backing. Japan's Financial Services Agency supervised a joint pilot that brought the three banks together beginning in November 2025, providing a structured environment to test the stablecoin's technical and compliance architecture before moving to commercial deployment. Japan passed amendments to its Payment Services Act in 2022 that created a legal framework for bank-issued stablecoins, giving this initiative a clearer regulatory foundation than similar projects in jurisdictions still working through legislation.

The announcement comes as major financial institutions globally are accelerating stablecoin and tokenized deposit strategies in response to the rapid growth of privately issued dollar stablecoins. In the US, major banks are building a shared tokenized deposit network targeting a 2027 launch for similar reasons. Japan's consortium approach reflects a recognition that the scale of infrastructure investment required favors collaboration over competition among incumbent institutions, particularly as they face pressure to match the settlement speed and programmability of crypto-native payment rails.