Japanese Corporate Heavyweights Unite for Digital Yen Issuance
Major corporations in Japan are banding together to form a common, private digital currency in a bid to push one of the world’s greatest cash lovers into the next chapter in history.
Over 30 Japanese companies have formed a group to execute the project including the nation’s three largest banks – MUFG, SMBC and Mizuho – and other major players in brokerage, telecommunications, utilities and retail.
The plans include an experiment for the issuance of the digital currency and usage on a common platform. Private banks will be initially responsible for issuance but other entities have not been ruled out for the role.
The plan coincides with Bank of Japan’s (BoJ) efforts to issue a digital yen as part of the trend of central banks worldwide exploring and attempting to forge ahead with electronic sovereign currencies.
Crypto Consolidation
Despite being the world’s third-largest economy, the penetration of cashless payment in Japan is notably low and unlike markets like China, the market is not dominated by a few players but rather a variety of often incompatible platforms.
«Japan has many digital platforms, none of which are big enough to beat cash payments,” explained Hiromi Yamaoka, a former BoJ executive who chairs the group, in a recent online briefing, according to a «Reuters» report.
«We don't want to create another silo-type platform. What we want to do is to create a framework that can make various platforms mutually compatible.»
