Prominent Japanese financial giant, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group (MUFG), is mulling a ‘proprietary stablecoin project,’ reports Cointelegraph. The “Progmat Coin” project (slated for a 2023 release) is poised to issue and manage stablecoins. Pegged to the Japanese Yen (JPY) on a 1:1 ratio, the stablecoins platform would facilitate a “universal digital asset payment method.” On offer would be cross-chain interoperability across a range of digital assets (beyond Progmat), including the digital JPY.
The official announcement indicates the Progmat Coin project to be a brainchild of the visionary contributions and activities of the ST Research Consortium (an MUFG arm). The ST Research Consortium has as its mission to develop security tokens’ standards. They are set to be known soon as the “Digital Asset Co-creation Consortium (DACC).” The DACC aims to expand even beyond security tokens as it sets its eyes on stablecoins, non-fungible tokens (NFTs), crypto assets, etc.
MUFG has been actively pursuing digital currency developments (projects) ever since 2015. But the Progmat project is categorized as “completely different,” says an MUFG spokesperson to Cointelegraph. The Progmat project was officially announced in November 2021, with 70 Japanese companies running trials to introduce a JPY-based digital currency. These developments mean that Japanese private companies are speedily embracing payment systems based on blockchain.
The Bank of Japan (BoJ) has set as its priority the development of a central bank digital currency (CBDC—”DCJPY”). The BoJ has its core attention set upon seamless payment channels (digital yuan and electronic payment services). The DCJPY is said to be facilitating “large fund transfers and settlements among the participating companies.”