Key Takeaways
- Japan’s Financial Services Agency (FSA) approved the first application to issue a JPY-pegged stablecoin earlier this month.
- Other companies are also lining up to launch yen-backed coins.
- Monex Group chairman Oki Matsumoto said the move would help the firm “keep up with the times.”
Japanese financial services conglomerate Monex Group is the latest firm to draw up plans for a yen-pegged stablecoin.
The announcement by board chairman Oki Matsumoto during a recent interview with TV Tokyo comes as Japan’s Financial Services Agency (FSA) is set to approve the first JPY stablecoin later this year.
Monex Group Expands into Crypto
According to Matsumoto, Momnex Group is considering launching a JPY-pegged stablecoin collateralized by Japanese government bonds.
“Issuing a stablecoin requires significant scheming and capital, but if we don’t handle it, we won’t be able to keep up with the times,” he said.
Besides its stablecoin ambitions, Monex is also considering acquiring a European crypto company, with an announcement expected within days, Matsumoto said
We’ll be able to announce within the next few days.” It appears that the company is finalizing its plans with a company working on blockchain technology as a candidate.
Potential Issuers Line up
With the FSA firing the starting gun on Japan’s stablecoin race, startup JPYC became the first to receive the regulatory green light earlier this month.
Meanwhile, Japan’s second-largest bank, SMBC, has also staked a claim in space.
In April, it was reported that the bank had partnered with Avalanche developer Ava Labs and FireBlocks to co-develop a JPY-pegged coin, which is expected to launch next year.
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James Morales is CCN’s blockchain and crypto policy reporter. He has been working in the news media since 2020, writing about topics such as payments, banking and financial technology. These days, he likes to explore the latest blockchain innovations and the evolving landscape of global crypto regulation.
With an educational background in social anthropology and media studies, James uses his platform as a journalist to explore how new technologies work, why they matter and how they might shape our future.
