Catenaa, Friday, July 11, 2025- Japan’s first digital-only bank, Minna Bank, has begun a pilot project to test stablecoin issuance and decentralized wallet use on the Solana blockchain, in a multi-party study with Fireblocks, Solana Japan, and tech firm TIS.
The move signals growing momentum among Japanese financial institutions to adopt blockchain-based payment infrastructure.
The study will assess real-world use cases for stablecoins, including cross-border payments, real-world asset trading, and daily digital transactions.
The partners aim to evaluate the practicality of stablecoin deployment and the user experience offered by Web3 wallets in regulated banking contexts.
Minna Bank’s project aligns with broader national and global trends, as stablecoin adoption accelerates. According to Fireblocks Chief Strategy Officer Stephen Richardson, Japan’s focus is on streamlining corporate and transnational banking through faster and more efficient money movement.
Circle’s USDC recently became the first dollar-pegged stablecoin approved for use in Japan, with SBI securing the license to distribute it. Japan joins a growing list of countries, including South Korea and the U.S., that are formalizing frameworks around stablecoin usage.
JPMorgan has identified a global shift away from U.S. dollar-dominated trade, which stablecoin development could further accelerate. While skepticism remains, Fireblocks believes programmable money will prove more transformative than prior crypto trends.
As part of this transition, stablecoin-backed systems may soon become invisible to end users, quietly reshaping finance while offering faster, cheaper alternatives to conventional banking.
