Japan Consortium Plots Digital Yen

Participants include MUFG Bank, Sumitomo Mitsui Banking, Mizuho Bank, Japan Post Bank, Nippon Telegraph & Telephone Corp., East Japan Railway, and Mitsubishi, as well as local governments. The Bank of Japan, Financial Services Agency of Japan, and three ministries are observing its activities.

Digital Currency Forum – a consortium of 74 Japanese firms – is planning to issue a digital yen that will work similarly to bank deposits by the end of 2022, according to a white paper published on Wednesday.

Tentatively called DCJPY, the digital yen will be issued by banks as their liability, and the consortium will also be releasing a beta version of the digital currency marketplace for non-fungible tokens (NFTs) by 2022, DeCurret, the consortium’s secretariat, said.

Members of the consortium will participate in experiments to gauge such a currency’s use in industries ranging from energy to retail, from as early as January, according to the progress report. The consortium’s subcommittee on Settlement in Industrial Distribution, led by Mitsubishi, will be testing the automatic execution of contracts using digital currency in the settlement of maritime transportation for transactions.