2018-11-5 16:59 |
A Japanese bank has taken advantage of the ruling that stablecoins are not cryptocurrencies. The First Bank of Toyama has launched a pilot project to test its own stablecoin, the First Bank Coin (FBC), and plans to commercialize the token in October 2019. The stablecoin will be pegged to the Japanese national currency, the Yuan at a 1:1 ratio.
The new stablecoin will initially be used within the bank, and its employees will have the opportunity to use it at the bank’s headquarters as an acceptable means of payment. The bank employees will also use the stablecoin for remittance purposes via a smartphone app.
Stablecoins and Crypto Regulation in JapanThe FBC coin is not the first stablecoin to be launched in Japan. In April, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Bank, one of Japan’s largest bank, piloted a stablecoin (MUFG) that allows its employs to purchase goods at an unmanned in-house convenience store.
In this pilot, which is now at an advanced stage, the bank’s employees only need to scan a product they need to buy using an MUFG coin mobile app, and the payment is made automatically.
In early October, GMO Internet Group, one of the largest internet companies and operator of one of the 16 licensed cryptocurrency exchanges in Japan unveiled plans to launch a stable virtual currency pegged to the Yuan in 2019. The internet giant also claimed that the project was progressing well as they got support from a number of banks in the country.
Last week, the Financial Services Authority (FSA), Japan’s top financial regulator ruled that stablecoins are not regarded as cryptocurrencies.
The regulator stated that:
“In principle, stable coins pegged by legal currencies do not fall into the category of ‘virtual currencies’ due to the Payment Services Act.”
The FSA further said that the companies are not required to register with any organization when they issue stablecoins.
The Japanese crypto industry was granted the right to regulate itself, and the ruling on stablecoins mean that stablecoins need to have their own set of rules.
Stablecoins – the Holy Grail of the Crypto WorldStablecoins have been touted as the holy grail of the crypto industry because they are pegged to a stable asset, and their price is insulated from the volatility that has characterized Bitcoin and hindered its mainstream adoption as a trusted store of value and means of payment.
However, one of the most well-known stablecoins, the Tether (USDT) was in the media for the wrong reasons in the past few months. The stablecoin lost its parity to the USD due to the negative publicity, and at one point, its price fell below $0.90.
It has since regained lost ground due to a number of corrective measures such as partnering with Deltec Bank and revealing that its bank balance is just over $1.8 billion, enough to back up all the tokens in circulation.
Japan: First Bank of Toyama Piloting a Stablecoin Pegged to the Yuan was originally found on [blokt] - Blockchain, Bitcoin & Cryptocurrency News.
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