Japan’s Financial Services Agency (FSA) has approved its fourth Payment Innovation Project (PIP), allowing participating financial institutions to test stablecoin-based settlement for cross-border trade finance. The pilot brings Japan’s three megabanks back into the initiative alongside other lenders, trade-platform operator TradeWaltz and NTT Data.
The project aims to streamline export financing by using stablecoins to settle payments after banks approve the purchase of export receivables. If implemented more broadly, the system could help exporters receive funds faster while enabling banks to automate payment instructions and confirm receipt.
The pilot uses TradeWaltz, a software-as-a-service platform that digitizes international trade documentation. Today, trade transactions often rely on letters of credit, bills of lading and other documents that require manual processing and reconciliation between counterparties.
Under the proposed workflow, an exporter uploads shipping documents to TradeWaltz. After the required review and bank approval, the bank purchases the resulting export receivable, triggering the stablecoin payment. For now, the pilot covers only the receivable purchase and settlement between exporters and their banks. Extending the system to importers and their financial institutions could be a later step.
The September 29 approval marks the fourth project under the FSA’s payments-focused PIP program and the fifteenth overall since the agency launched its FinTech Proof-of-Concept Hub in 2017. PIP began operating on November 7, 2025, with a focus on payment innovation and expertise spanning blockchain, financial regulation and international developments.
The earlier pilots explored other applications of blockchain-based settlement. The first examined a joint payment stablecoin initiative involving Japan’s three megabanking groups. The second, announced in February 2026, involved Nomura and Daiwa testing blockchain-based securities transfers settled in stablecoins. A third project, launched in April 2026 by DeCurret DCP and GMO Aozora Net Bank, focused on interbank settlement using tokenized deposits.
The fourth pilot includes Mizuho Bank, MUFG Bank and Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation, alongside Mitsubishi UFJ Trust and Banking. The three megabanking groups are already working on a joint yen-denominated stablecoin initiative, which is expected to be ready for commercial transactions during the fiscal year ending in March 2027.
The participants are also considering a longer-term expansion involving electronic bills of lading and smart-contract escrow services, potentially bringing more stages of international trade processing onto blockchain infrastructure.
The FSA has not announced an end date for the latest trial, which began in September 2026. It plans to publish compliance and supervisory findings after the experiment concludes. The results could help clarify how stablecoins might be integrated into Japan’s regulated financial system and whether the technology can reduce friction in cross-border trade finance.
