Japan's Financial Services Agency has finalized rules that will allow foreign-issued trust-type stablecoins into the country's payment system, effective June 1. The move, announced May 19, marks a significant opening of one of Asia's largest financial markets to global stablecoin issuers. Across the Pacific, the U.S. Senate Banking Committee voted 15–9 to advance the CLARITY Act, a bill that would draw a clearer line between the SEC and the CFTC over how to regulate stablecoins.
Japan's New Stablecoin Framework
The FSA's final rule reclassifies qualifying foreign trust-type stablecoins as Electronic Payment Instruments under Japan's Payment Services Act. To get that status, a foreign issuer's home jurisdiction has to meet an equivalence standard—matching Japanese rules on licensing, auditing, anti-money laundering controls, and reserves held in the same currency. Domestic intermediaries in Japan will bear the responsibility for first-line verification that the stablecoins comply.
The reform, published under Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi, opens the door for companies like SBI VC Trade, which is already exploring licensed services involving global stablecoins such as USDC. The June 1 effective date gives the market just under two weeks to prepare for the new regime.
US Senate Advances CLARITY Act
The CLARITY Act builds on the earlier GENIUS Act and aims to define regulatory jurisdiction over stablecoins between the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission. One of its key provisions generally prohibits passive, deposit-like interest on payment stablecoins but allows activity-based rewards, a distinction that could shape how stablecoin products are structured.
The bipartisan committee vote suggests the bill has momentum, though it still faces the full Senate and House. Galaxy Digital's Alex Thorn has put the odds of passage in 2026 at 65% to 75%. Traders on the prediction market Polymarket are slightly more cautious, assigning a 64% probability.
Both developments point to a year of regulatory clarity for stablecoins—Japan with an operational framework, and the U.S. still working toward one. Whether the CLARITY Act maintains its pace through the remainder of 2026 remains the open question.
