MUFG, Mizuho and SMBC form council to co-issue yen stablecoin by March 2027

MUFG Bank, Mizuho Bank and Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation have set up a joint council to develop and co-issue a yen-pegged crypto stablecoin by the end of Japan’s fiscal year 2026, which runs through March 2027. The token is planned to be issued via a trust structure with the banks as joint settlors and a trust bank (or similar institution) acting as trustee. The effort sits within the FSA’s Payment Innovation Project and follows a late-2025 pilot on whether multi-bank co-issuance could be done legally.