Thanks to its advanced regulatory framework and growing demand, Japan is becoming an attractive market for yen-pegged stablecoins, attracting the interest of major businesses like Ripple.
In an interview with Bloomberg on September 7, Brad Garlinghouse, CEO of Ripple, identified Japan as a potential market for yen-backed stablecoins. According to him, Japan's clear and advanced legal framework in the cryptocurrency field is an important factor attracting businesses to develop stablecoins.
“People will want to hold stablecoins, and I think it's just a matter of time,” Garlinghouse asserted.
Compared to many other countries, Japan has been at the forefront of issuing specific regulations regarding cryptocurrencies and stablecoins. This policy, according to Garlinghouse, has facilitated the development of the cryptocurrency business and investment industry in Japan. He also believes that Japan is far ahead of the US in building a legal framework for stablecoins, while the US is still “lagging” behind Japan, the UK, and Switzerland in this area.
Optimism about the potential of the Japanese market is further reinforced by the fact that the country’s three largest banks – Mitsubishi UFJ Bank, Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation, and Mizuho Bank – are backing Project Pax, a stablecoin platform from Datachain that aims to facilitate cross-border business transactions through stablecoins.
While appreciating the potential of the Japanese market, Ripple will prioritize launching the Ripple USD (RLUSD) stablecoin in the United States first, before rolling out plans to expand globally, including Japan. “We will launch RLUSD first in the United States, but the global potential, especially in Japan, is huge,” Garlinghouse Chia .
