Japan

Japan's three megabanks, MUFG, SMBC, and Mizuho, plan to jointly issue stablecoins by March 2027 under FSA supervision. The plan is less a copy of the dollar stablecoin market than a test of a bank-led model in which regulated yen stablecoins, tokenized deposits, and programmable payments are built from regulation outward. The decisive question is market design: whether Japan can issue digital money that is regulated enough to be credible yet open and interoperable enough to be useful, rather than a closed bank rail with blockchain branding.