cryptoslate.com
Binance Japan is partnering with Mitsubishi UFJ Trust Bank (MUTB) to create new stablecoins pegged to major currencies in Japan. The partnership will launch stablecoins pegged to fiat currencies, such as the Japanese Yen, and other foreign currencies, such as the U.S. Dollar.
The stablecoins will be built on Progmat Coin, a compliant infrastructure platform Mitsubishi owns. Progmat Coin was developed to comply with the Payments Service Act. Several major banks in Japan, including Mizuho Bank, SMBC, and SBI Holdings, back the platform.
A Sept. 26 statement revealed that the two organizations have initiated a collaborative study into creating stablecoins. Once this study is concluded and the necessary licenses are secured, the stablecoins will be available to the public.
“Under this partnership between MUTB and Binance, the joint study aims to drive mass adoption of Web3 and foster a thriving Web3 ecosystem in Japan,” it added.
General Manager for Binaance Japan Takeshi Chino highlighted several potential partnership benefits and use cases for the stablecoins.
“Stablecoins have important use cases across the broader financial ecosystem – from a lower-cost and instantaneous cross-border trade settlement for business clients to the facilitation of trading other cryptocurrencies seamlessly for retail investors – stablecoins fill an important financial services need and are crucial for the success of Web 3.0 adoption,” Chino said.
Binance expansionist moves
The move represents a milestone for Binance as it continues its expansion. The exchange started operating in Japan in August and is offering 34 cryptocurrencies in the country.
Despite its challenges in the U.S. and other major markets, the exchange has been gaining entry into new jurisdictions. After regulatory challenges caused it to pause operations for three months, it recently restarted operations in Belgium.
Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao recently debunked reports that it could delist stablecoins in Europe because of MiCA regulations. He claimed that it has partners in the continent launching fully compliant stablecoins.
Meanwhile, the stablecoin market has declined for more than a year. The global market cap is currently at $124.23 billion and has fallen since May 2022. Despite the fall, Binance continued to prop several stablecoins, including TrueUSD (TUSD) and First Digital USD (FDUSD).