(2 April 2025 – Japan) Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group (SMFG), Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation (SMBC), TIS, Inc., Ava Labs, and Fireblocks have signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to explore the potential commercial use of stablecoins.
Under this agreement, the organisations will collaborate on developing a framework for issuing and circulating stablecoins. Their focus includes assessing the technical, regulatory, and market infrastructure requirements in Japan and internationally.
Additionally, they will investigate potential use cases for stablecoins, particularly in settlements for tokenized financial and real-world assets (RWAs) such as government and corporate bonds, as well as real estate.
The initiative follows Japan’s amended Payment Services Act, which came into effect in June 2023, formally recognising stablecoins as electronic payment instruments. SMBC highlighted that this regulatory shift allows financial institutions and businesses to explore stablecoins for remittances and settlements.