Japan’s FSA Approves JPY Stablecoin Pilot with Major Banks

Japan’s Financial Services Agency has greenlighted a JPY stablecoin pilot under its Payment Innovation Project. Major banks—Mizuho, MUFG, SMBC—and Mitsubishi Corporation’s finance arm will issue the coin via MUFG’s Progmat platform starting this month. The trial aims to modernize corporate settlements, lower transaction costs and boost productivity for over 300,000 clients. The FSA will publish results after completion. The announcement comes as Tokyo fintech JPYC launched the country’s first fully convertible JPY stablecoin, backed by seven adopters. Meanwhile, Bybit has halted new Japanese registrations, and regulators are refining crypto rules: the FSA plans to let banks hold BTC, and the Securities and Exchange Surveillance Commission will tighten insider-trading penalties. The JPY stablecoin pilot signals Japan’s push for compliant blockchain payments and sets a precedent for future crypto regulation.