06-16-2026 
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Japan has been ramping up its adoption of digital currency, with the announcement that the country’s three largest banks will jointly issue stablecoins. In other news, SBI Shinsei Bank aims to launch a digital currency rewards program for deposit customers.
Japan’s largest banks plan to issue stablecoins by 2027
On June 10, three of Japan’s largest banks announced that they will jointly issue stablecoins during the current fiscal year, which ends in March 2027.
The banking arms of the country’s largest financial groups—Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group (NASDAQ: MUFG), Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group (NASDAQ: SMFG), and Mizuho Financial Group (NASDAQ: MFG)—will create a council to examine operational frameworks for stablecoins and prepare for their issuance.
The banks have begun studying the feasibility of jointly issuing a stablecoin via a pilot program since late 2025. The initiative was designed to assess whether multiple banks could collaborate on stablecoin issuance while meeting regulatory requirements and ensuring compliance is effectively conducted.
The initiative will fall under the Financial Services Agency‘s (FSA) Payment Innovation Project, a program that aims to accelerate blockchain-based payments within the existing Fintech Proof-of-Concept Hub established in 2017. The FSA has been supporting the stablecoin probe as part of Japan’s efforts to use blockchain to improve its payment systems.
Another stablecoin initiative was launched in Japan in October 2025. Japanese startup JPYC began issuing stablecoins pegged to yen. By November 12, 2025, the company had already rolled out around JPY 143 million ($890,807) worth of the stablecoin, also called JPYC, with the number of account holders reaching 4,707.
In a proposal this month, a ruling party panel has also called for promoting the use of yen-based stablecoins in Asia.
Japan’s SBI Shinsei Bank to launch a crypto rewards program
The banking arm of Japan’s SBI Group, SBI Shinsei Bank, has planned to launch a digital currency rewards program for depositors this June, Nikkei reported.
The program will allow deposit customers of Shinsei Bank to receive vouchers equal to 20% of their deposit interest payments, which can be redeemed for digital currencies. This aims to introduce SBI Group’s banking customers to its digital currency exchange business, SBI VC Trade. In this program, customers must open an SBI VC Trade account before redeeming their vouchers.In addition, the bank plans to run a three-month pilot starting June 10. This pilot will cover ordinary savings accounts and time deposits with maturities ranging from three months to five years. Depositors would receive vouchers based on the amount invested, ranging from JPY 500 ($3) for a JPY 300,000 ($1,872) deposit to JPY 20,000 ($125) for deposits of at least JPY 30 million ($187,288), local digital currency news outlet Coinpost reported. Details of the service have yet to be finalized.
The move comes as SBI Group expands its digital currency and blockchain efforts. In May 2026, SBI Holdings began preliminary talks to acquire shares in Bitbank, one of Japan’s major domestic digital currency exchanges.
Last year, SBI Securities and Rakuten Securities were also reported to have developed in-house digital currency investment trusts, with plans to sell them to retail investors. Also, in August 2025, SBI Holdings and Startale Group partnered to develop a new blockchain for on-chain stocks and revealed JPSYC, a trust bank-backed Japanese yen stablecoin.
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