Japan has moved another step closer to putting a trust-based yen stablecoin into everyday business use. The Japan Blockchain Foundation has opened a six-month Stablecoin Proof of Concept Partners program that began in September and runs through February 2027, and 26 companies, financial institutions and local government bodies have signed on to test EJPY and other stablecoin use cases across payments, remittances and digital assets.
The program is the most concrete milestone yet for EJPY, a yen-denominated stablecoin under development by the foundation and centered on Japan Open Chain, an Ethereum-compatible Layer 1 blockchain operated by a consortium of Japanese companies. Toshiba is the highest-profile name among the participants, joined by SCSK, QUICK, Seiko Solutions, Hachijuni Nagano Bank, Asahi Broadcasting Group Holdings and Tobu Top Tours. Tagawa City has joined from the public sector.
Sixteen participants have been publicly named so far, with another ten to be disclosed once discussions with the companies are completed. Participation does not commit any company to issuing, handling or commercially launching a stablecoin service. The foundation is explicit that the program is designed to study possible applications and verify the technology before any individual company decides whether to proceed with a product.
What the EJPY tests will cover
Participants will examine applications across domestic payments and remittances, cross-border transactions, business-to-business settlements and payments involving digital assets such as real world assets and security tokens. Web3 services, local government and regional economy payments, and new financial services built around stablecoins are also on the agenda.
Each participating organization will receive EJPY test tokens, wallets that operate on Japan Open Chain, and access to the technical infrastructure needed to run transactions through the network. Individual consultations will be offered for companies designing stablecoin-based business models, alongside briefings on stablecoin regulations, market developments and the EJPY structure.
The foundation says the companies will develop use cases based on their own business needs rather than working from a single predefined payment model, with technical testing used to examine whether those ideas could eventually become commercial services.
The work builds on plans disclosed earlier this year, when the foundation was preparing the yen-pegged token for business-to-business settlement with Japan Open Chain serving as the core issuance network and Ethereum support planned from the start. The trust structure, issuance and redemption process, systems and legal compliance arrangements are still being finalized.
A regulated market is already taking shape
EJPY enters testing while Japan’s stablecoin market is already moving beyond the issuance stage. Convenience store operator Lawson expanded a stablecoin trial in August to include JPYC, USDC and USDT at two Tokyo stores, processing wallet barcodes through existing point-of-sale registers without separate payment terminals. Lawson said it would examine payment speed, system integration and store operations before deciding on a wider rollout.
On the corporate side, logistics group AZ COM Maruwa Holdings has laid out plans to use JPYC for payments involving roughly 2,300 business partners and contractors, including truck drivers. JPYC itself raised a total of 6 billion yen, roughly 38 million USD, through an extended Series B round announced in August, with AZ COM Maruwa investing 1 billion yen as part of the funding.
Japan’s megabanks are moving in parallel. MUFG Bank, Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation and Mizuho Bank are targeting live stablecoin transactions during fiscal 2026, which ends in March 2027, working through a shared framework covering issuance infrastructure, governance and operating rules. Their effort followed a Financial Services Agency-backed pilot that tested corporate cross-border payments through a trust structure using Progmat infrastructure. In September, Kyobo Life Insurance and SBI Group completed a yen-and-won stablecoin test on the Canton Network, exchanging the two currencies directly without routing through the US dollar.
Regulatory footing
Unlike many jurisdictions still debating stablecoin rules, Japan already has a legal framework in place. The FSA established a dedicated Cryptocurrency and Stablecoin Division in August, bringing digital asset supervision, innovation and digital payment planning under a standalone department.
JPYC operates as a regulated electronic payment instrument, having received registration as a funds transfer service provider in August 2025 before formally launching its current stablecoin issuance and redemption service. The token maintains a one-to-one value with the yen, backed by yen-denominated deposits and Japanese government bonds.
EJPY would add another yen-denominated option, this one trust-based and built on infrastructure designed for business settlement from the start. The foundation expects the token to support business settlements, digital asset payments, remittances and Web3 services, with Japan Open Chain as the main issuance network and multichain support under consideration to reach businesses in Japan and overseas.
For a program that runs into February 2027, the stakes are modest: no company is committing to launch anything. But the breadth of the participant list, from Toshiba and regional banks to a city government, signals that corporate Japan sees enough regulatory clarity and technical maturity to start testing yen stablecoins against real business processes rather than lab conditions.
Market snapshot at publication (12:00 UTC, Sept. 25, 2026, CoinGecko via BitcoinsNews price cache): BTC 84,606 USD, ETH 2,716.64 USD, SOL 120.81 USD.
Toshiba in a stablecoin trial, six months, on Japan Open Chain. Slow methodical testing is very japanese and honestly the right way to do this
Toshiba in a stablecoin poc is not a name i expected. twenty six participants including a city government, this is how japan does infra, quietly
Hachijuni Nagano Bank joining matters more than people think. regional banks are the ones who actually move domestic remittances
26 participants but only 16 named, 10 still undisclosed. participating also doesnt mean issuing anything. this is a study group with good pr
sixteen named with ten pending smells like they wanted the Toshiba headline early. still, a poc running to feb 2027 beats a mainnet that dies in a month
study group with good pr is the correct label, but tagawa city joining is the genuinely new part. local gov payment flows are the quiet killer app
trust based yen stablecoin on japan open chain, running to feb 2027. six months is long enough for the accounting teams to kill it tbh
accounting and settlement finality were always the real blockers here. the chain tech was the easy part five years ago
A trust based yen stablecoin through Feb 2027 could quietly matter more than most L2 launches this year. Remittances alone in that corridor are huge.
the remittance corridor matters but trust bank issuance puts settlement risk on the issuer, which is exactly what these six months stress test
which is why the trust bank accounts matter more than the chain. japan open chain is fine, the issuer balance sheet is the whole game
results landing in february 2027 while everyone else ships quarterly. slow poc, fast market, tough combination