Japanese megabank MUFG to roll out yen pegged digital ‘coin’

News of the planned rollout by Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group (MUFG) was revealed in an April 9th interview with Japanese media company Asahi Shimbun by incoming MUFG president Kanetsugu Mike.

MUFG originally unveiled the ‘coin’ concept in 2017 under the name MUFG coin – a digital currency based on blockchain technology. In October 2018, MUFG announced that it would change the name of its digital currency from MUFG coin to ‘coin’.

In essence ‘coin’ will function as a Japanese currency stablecoin as its value will be pegged to the yen at a rate of 1 ‘coin’ = 1 JPY. MUFG has undertaken several trials using ‘coin’. Notably, in April 2018, MUFG conducted trials of automatic payments that involved processing shopping payments using its digital currency based on facial recognition and artificial intelligence – without the use of any checkout counters.

Money Forward backs off

In other Japanese news, Money Forward Inc announced on April 15 that it has delayed plans to enter the cryptocurrency sector in a major way – and withdrawn its application to register as a cryptocurrency exchange.

In May last year the company announced the establishment of Money Forward Financial as its wholly owned subsidiary for conducting businesses related to blockchain and cryptocurrency. In February this year Money Forward Financial registered as a Type II member of the Japan Virtual Currency Exchange Association (JVCEA), a self-regulating body for the cryptocurrency business – with the goal of registering as a cryptocurrency exchange operator.

Money Forward said its decision to back off of crypto was based on the rapid cooling of the market and that the downside risks of continuing the business until it became profitable were too high. Money Forward has also decided to end its Onbit blockchain and cryptocurrency media service in May.

Despite this set back, many big players have continued to open cryptocurrency exchanges in Japan since the start of April. DeCurret Inc, whose investors include major railroad operator East Japan Railway Company and MUFG – started providing a cryptocurrency exchange service on April 16th.

The major FX and securities trading firm Money Partner Group, is also expected to establish a wholly owned subsidiary that primarily operates as a cryptocurrency operator in May. TaoTao, Inc, a cryptocurrency exchange with investment from Yahoo Japan Corporation is expected to launch in May as well. Finally, Rakuten Wallet – a cryptocurrency exchange under the umbrella of the major e-commerce and internet service firm Rakuten Inc has announced that it will launch its cryptocurrency service in Japan in June.