Three of Japan's largest banks — MUFG, SMFG, and Mizuho — plan to issue a jointly operated stablecoin by the end of fiscal year 2026. The token will run on Progmat, a distributed ledger platform built by MUFG and NTT Data. Initially pegged to the yen, the consortium expects to add a US dollar version later.
Corporate clients, not retail, at launch
The stablecoin will target corporate clients — more than 300,000 companies — rather than retail consumers when it launches. That's a deliberate choice. The banks see the token as a tool for business-to-business payments, settlement, and possibly supply chain finance. Rolling out to a wide corporate base first gives the system a solid transaction foundation before any consumer push.
A single standard, not competing tokens
The plan extends a regulatory pilot the Financial Services Agency ran with all three banks simultaneously since November 2025. The FSA's approach signaled a clear preference: a single shared standard over each bank issuing its own token. That fits the consortium model. One jointly operated stablecoin means simpler integration for clients and a unified compliance framework for regulators.
Global pressure from JPMorgan and SoFi
The Japanese initiative doesn't happen in a vacuum. In the US, JPMorgan brought its JPMD token to Coinbase's Base network earlier this year, giving institutional clients round-the-clock dollar settlement. SoFi pushed SoFiUSD to its roughly 15 million members in May 2026, making it one of the first consumer-facing bank stablecoins stateside. Across the US, stablecoins eclipsed ACH network volumes in 2026, adding competitive pressure on legacy payment infrastructure. Japanese banks are watching that shift closely.
An open question for the consortium is governance. Should they issue a single token under one brand, or operate shared rails that each bank draws on separately? That decision will shape everything from client onboarding to how regulators oversee the system. The consortium hasn't announced a timeline for a decision, but with a 2026 target, it'll need to settle the structure soon.
