Japan has been one of the most progressive names when it comes to the world of cryptocurrencies. Even at a time when governments across the world are cracking down on cryptocurrencies and crypto-users, Japan continues to be a progressive front where Bitcoin acceptability continues to rise with every passing day. Japan’s Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group (MUFG) has announced that they are planning to launch their own cryptocurrency by 2019. 

With over $2.5 Trillion worth of asset holdings, the MUFG is a financial powerhouse and a banking giant. MUFG is among the top five banks in the world and enjoys a massive cash flow as well as market goodwill. The company officially announced earlier today that they intend to test their proprietary cryptocurrency by 2019. 

The bank plans to test out their MUFG Coin cryptocurrency with 100,000 users initially before rolling it out for all their customers.If the MUFG launches this cryptocurrency successfully, they will become the first major bank in the world to have their own cryptocurrency. 

Current plans indicate that holders of the MUFG Coin would be easily able to shop at retail stores and use it for day to day payments. Users of the MUFG Coin would need to download an application which would allow them to convert their fiat currencies into the MUFG Coin. The MUFG Coin cryptocurrency would be at parity with the Japanese Yen - making it easier to be regulated and ensuring that price fluctuations are minimal. 

Competition in the Markets

Reportedly, the development on this cryptocurrency has been going on for the past three years. The bank has been trying to come up with a cryptocurrency solution which is more reliable than existing options such as Bitcoins - i.e. stable and more secure. The Mitsubishi UFJ Finance Group is also trying to get other banks on board with this experiment of theirs. Interestingly, this isn’t the only bank in Japan which is working on developing a cryptocurrency as the Mizuho Bank has been working towards launching ‘J-Coin’ - a cryptocurrency which should be active by the time the 2020 Olympics come around. 

The launch of the MUFG Coin would be historic as it would be the first time a major bank shows such an incredible amount of trust on cryptocurrencies to launch one of their own. This is likely to set a global precedent which would be followed by more banks across the world - leading into an increased adoption for cryptocurrencies.

Plans for a Cryptocurrency Exchange

MUFG’s plans don’t just end at launching their own cryptocurrency - but they also intend to start off with a cryptocurrency exchange. Japan has been one of the hottest markets for cryptocurrencies and a number of companies have been lining up to set up their exchanges in the nation. However, Japan’s financial watchdog body, the FSA has been quite active and alert when it comes to cryptocurrency exchanges in the nation. Mitsubishi is reportedly in talks with the FSA about setting up an exchange.

If Mitsubishi succeeds in setting up an exchange, it would face competition from the likes of Yahoo! Japan and DMM - which are also planning to set up an exchange in the country. However, their plans to introduce an MUFG Coin give them a significant edge.