Mizuho, MUFG and SMBC finish a joint yen stablecoin test run July 17 to 23 for Mitsubishi Corporation payments

Mizuho Bank, MUFG Bank and Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation (SMBC) said on October 16 that they have completed a proof-of-concept for a jointly issued yen stablecoin. According to their joint press release, the test ran from July 17 to July 23, 2026, and also involved Mitsubishi UFJ Trust and Banking and TISI Inc.

What was tested

The coins were issued as "specified trust receivable rights" under Article 2, Paragraph 9 of Japan's Payment Services Act. The three banks acted as joint principal trustees, with Mitsubishi UFJ Trust and Banking as agent trustee. The test also checked compliance measures for cross-border payments between Mitsubishi Corporation's Japanese and overseas locations. SMBC provided the blockchain platform.

The release says the work was approved in November 2025 for support under the Financial Services Agency's FinTech PoC Hub. The design described has no circulation cap, trust assets held in bank deposits, and circulation limited to users who have completed identity checks at banks. A footnote says this design "may be subject to change."

What the banks say comes next

The release says the PoC confirmed "the safety and reliability of the system" and the feasibility of a joint issuance model by multiple banks, and that a series of processes for issuance, transfer and redemption was verified in the Mitsubishi Corporation use case. It adds that the parties will keep assessing the issues to be resolved "toward the social implementation" of stablecoins, and will work with authorities, banks, companies and technology providers on user protection, anti-money-laundering controls, cybersecurity and system stability.

It also points back to a June 10, 2026 announcement titled "On the Launch of Live Transactions of a Three-Bank Jointly Issued Stablecoin in FY2026 and the Establishment of a Council for Jointly Examining Related Matters." We have not read that earlier document, so we do not describe its terms. The October release describes the intended design as stablecoins backed by deposits, meant for payments and remittances and for circulation among users who have completed identity checks at banks, and warns the design "may be subject to change."

What it is not

This release describes a test in July, not a product on sale. It gives no volumes, no customer list and no launch date, and we found no Financial Services Agency statement on the results. For businesses that pay overseas suppliers or subsidiaries, the practical point is the use case: the test moved value between a Japanese trading house's domestic and overseas locations, the kind of intercompany payment that is slow and costly today. For how U.S. banks approach the same idea, see our Citi and Coinbase report.

Sources: joint press release, October 16, 2026. This is information, not investment advice.