Japan’s Biggest Bank Confirms Digital Currency Tests
Japanese banking giant Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ has confirmed experiments on the rumored “MUFJ Coin”, a digital currency that could soon become the world’s first ever digital currency issued by a major bank.
A spokesman for Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ has, in a statement to Reuters , confirmed that the bank is experimenting on a “coin” issued by the bank that is underpinned by blockchain technology, like bitcoin.
The spokesman was addressing a recent report from prominent Japanese national daily newspaper, The Asahi Shimbun. The publication cited sources who revealed that the bank will publicly issue the digital currency in autumn 2017.
Without revealing any details nor official announcements, the bank’s spokesman did not give much away. Still, he stated:
However, we can only stay that it’s true that MUFG is conducting demonstration experiments on the ‘Coin’ within the company [by] utilizing block chain technology.
MUFG, or Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group Inc., is the parent company of the bank.
The rumored details of the bank-issued digital currency shows some insight into the financial institution’s plans for its own token currency.
Most notably, the conversion rate of one MUFG coin will be equal to one Japanese yen, a measure that will be known for its simplicity when the coin goes public. Users will be able to withdraw money from their bank accounts through an app on a smartphone. They money will then be converted to the coin token.
The bank knows there is competition via existing prepaid electronic money platforms who are already operating in the country. It aims to beat them all by offering significantly lowered commission fees for remittances of any kind.
The report from the Shimbun also revealed bitcoin ATMs developed by the Japanese megabank, primed for launch in Spring 2018. Users will also be able to convert MUFG coins to fiat currency using the ATM, the original report revealed.
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