Quick Insights

  • Circle and Nomura are reportedly planning to offer instant USDC-based foreign exchange settlement for Japanese companies as early as 2027, allowing firms to convert yen into dollar stablecoins for cross-border transactions around the clock.
  • The partnership, reported by Nikkei on Thursday, sits alongside a broader wave of institutional stablecoin activity in Japan: RLUSD officially launched this week, SBI and Startale announced the JPYSC yen stablecoin, and Japan's three megabanks are building a joint yen stablecoin targeting March 2027.
  • Japan's Lower House passed a bill this month that would bring crypto assets under the country's financial instruments framework, potentially opening a path to ETFs and cutting capital gains tax from 55% to a 20% flat rate.

Circle, the issuer of USDC, and Nomura, Japan's largest investment bank, are reportedly working together to offer instant foreign exchange settlement for Japanese companies using dollar-backed stablecoins, with a commercial launch targeted as early as 2027. According to a Nikkei report published Thursday, the service would allow companies to convert yen into USDC for cross-border transactions and settle them instantly, removing the delays caused by banking hours, cut-off times and the time zone gap between Japan and North America.

Neither Circle nor Nomura had responded to requests for comment by the time of publication. USDC has been approved for distribution in Japan since March 2025, when it became the first foreign-issued dollar stablecoin to clear Japan's Financial Services Agency under the Payment Services Act, giving Circle the regulatory foundation needed to pursue institutional use cases like corporate FX settlement.

Japan's Institutional Stablecoin Activity Has Accelerated Sharply This Week Alone

The reported Circle-Nomura partnership is one of several stablecoin developments landing in Japan in rapid succession. On Wednesday, SBI Holdings and Startale Group announced JPYSC, a trust bank-backed yen stablecoin designed for institutional and cross-border settlement. On the same day, Ripple's RLUSD officially launched in Japan, distributed by SBI VC Trade and becoming the latest dollar stablecoin to clear JFSA approval after USDC's March 2025 precedent. Japan's three megabanks — MUFG, SMBC and Mizuho — are also building a jointly issued yen stablecoin with a target launch date of March 2027, following months of pilot testing under an FSA-supported programme. Nomura itself is separately part of a consortium with Daiwa Securities Group to allow investors to buy stocks and bonds using stablecoins pegged to legal currencies.

Initiative Parties Type Timeline
FX settlement service Circle + Nomura Dollar (USDC) 2027 (reported)
JPYSC SBI + Startale Yen Announced Jun 2026
RLUSD Japan launch Ripple + SBI VC Trade Dollar Live Jun 2026
Megabank yen stablecoin MUFG + SMBC + Mizuho Yen March 2027
Stablecoin securities trading Nomura + Daiwa + megabanks Multiple In development

63% of Japanese Investment Professionals See Stablecoins as Practical for Treasury and Payments

The pace of institutional activity in Japan reflects underlying demand rather than just regulatory permissiveness. A survey of 518 Japanese investment professionals conducted by Nomura and Laser Digital and published in April found that 63% see practical applications for stablecoins, most commonly in treasury management and cross-border payments. The same survey revealed a notable preference for bank-issued stablecoins over those from crypto-native issuers, which may explain why the Circle-Nomura structure — pairing a regulated stablecoin issuer with one of Japan's most trusted financial institutions — is the model being pursued rather than Circle distributing USDC independently.

Japan's corporate FX market is a meaningful target. Japanese companies conduct substantial cross-border business with dollar-denominated counterparties and have historically faced settlement delays of one to two days due to the gap between Tokyo business hours and US banking hours. A stablecoin-based system that settles instantly at any hour removes that friction entirely, and at the scale of Japanese corporate trade flows, even marginal improvements in settlement efficiency represent significant savings.

Japan's Lower House Crypto Bill Opens a Path to ETFs and a 20% Capital Gains Tax

The institutional stablecoin build-out is running in parallel with a significant shift in Japan's broader crypto regulatory framework. Earlier in June, Japan's Lower House passed a bill that would move crypto assets from the Payment Services Act to the Financial Instruments and Exchange Act, bringing them under the same regulatory treatment as traditional financial products. That change would create a path for Japan to approve crypto exchange-traded funds, a category that has reshaped institutional flows in the US since the spot bitcoin ETF approvals in 2024. It would also lower the capital gains tax on crypto assets from the current 55% to a 20% flat rate, one of the most significant structural barriers to retail and institutional participation that Japan's market currently faces.

For more on how stablecoins are developing as a global payments layer, see our DeFi guide.

Disclaimer: Nakamoto Daily provides information for educational and entertainment purposes only. Nothing published here constitutes financial, investment, or trading advice. Readers should conduct their own research and consult a qualified financial adviser before making any investment decisions.