Nomura, Daiwa Partner with Japan's Top 3 Banks for Stablecoin Securities Trading

VADODARA, February 11, 2026 — Japan's financial establishment is executing a coordinated assault on traditional settlement rails. According to Nikkei reporting, Nomura Holdings and Daiwa Securities Group are partnering with Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group (MUFG), Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group (SMBC), and Mizuho Financial Group to establish a system for trading conventional securities using a jointly-issued fiat-pegged stablecoin. This latest crypto news represents a direct institutional challenge to legacy T+2 settlement cycles, aiming for 24-hour trading of stocks, bonds, and ETFs. The consortium plans regulatory registration this month before launching a pilot, signaling Japan's aggressive pivot toward blockchain-based capital markets infrastructure.

Investigation: The Mechanics of Japan's Stablecoin Securities Push

Market structure suggests this is more than a pilot. The system converts traditional assets—including government bonds, corporate debt, and investment trusts—into digital securities. When a buy order executes at a brokerage, settlement occurs instantly via the consortium's stablecoin. Rights transfer simultaneously to the buyer. This eliminates the traditional clearinghouse intermediary. According to the report, Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management will lead stablecoin issuance alongside Sumitomo Mitsui and Mizuho. The initiative explicitly targets expansion to more institutions, indicating a planned liquidity network rather than a closed experiment. Registration with Japan's Financial Services Agency (FSA) could occur as early as this month, per the Nikkei timeline.

Market Context & Historical Precedent

Historically, Japan has moved cautiously on crypto-assets. The 2017 Coincheck hack prompted strict exchange regulations. In contrast, this 2026 move represents a strategic reversal. The partnership mirrors earlier institutional forays like Citadel Securities and DTCC backing LayerZero's 'Zero' blockchain, but with a critical difference: direct bank-led stablecoin issuance. This bypasses existing stablecoin providers like USDC or USDT, creating a closed-loop, bank-controlled settlement layer. The timing is surgical. It coincides with global regulatory fragmentation, where jurisdictions like Hong Kong and South Korea are defining their own paths. Hong Kong's stablecoin license decision is expected in March, while South Korea's FSC reviews STO exchange bids. Japan's move may be a preemptive grab for Asian capital markets dominance.

Technical Architecture & Regulatory Arbitrage

The technical implementation remains opaque. A bank-issued stablecoin likely operates on a permissioned blockchain, contradicting crypto's decentralized ethos. This creates a regulatory arbitrage opportunity. By using a stablecoin rather than direct bank transfers, the system may exploit lighter regulatory frameworks for digital asset settlement. However, it introduces new counterparty risks concentrated in three megabanks. The lack of technical specification regarding blockchain type—whether a private chain, public sidechain, or utilization of existing infrastructure like Robinhood's new Ethereum L2 testnet—raises questions about interoperability and finality guarantees. Market analysts question whether this represents true innovation or merely digitized legacy finance with blockchain branding.

By The Numbers

Why It Matters

This matters for liquidity cycles. Converting traditional securities to digital form creates programmable assets. These can serve as collateral in DeFi protocols, potentially bridging trillions in institutional capital to decentralized finance. The 24-hour trading target directly attacks a key inefficiency in global markets. Asian markets close while US markets are open, creating arbitrage gaps. Continuous trading could compress these spreads, reducing profitability for traditional market makers. , bank-issued stablecoins could challenge the dominance of Circle's USDC and Tether's USDT in institutional corridors. If successful, this model may export globally, similar to Japan's earlier leadership in quantitative easing policies.

Expert Commentary

The CoinMarketBuzz Intelligence Desk notes: "This is a liquidity grab disguised as innovation. The three megabanks control the stablecoin issuance, the brokerages control order flow, and the FSA provides regulatory cover. They're building a walled garden with blockchain paint. The real test is whether this system achieves meaningful volume outside Japanese government bond trading, where they already dominate. Watch for uptake in corporate bonds and ETFs—that's the true measure of market structure change."

Market Outlook & Price Scenarios

Market structure suggests two primary scenarios. First, successful pilot implementation could trigger a re-rating of blockchain infrastructure tokens as institutional adoption narratives strengthen. Second, regulatory delays or technical failures could reinforce the "crypto as experiment" narrative, prolonging the current risk-off environment. The initiative's success hinges on achieving critical mass in liquidity—a classic network effect problem.

• Bullish Invalidation Level: Bitcoin breaking above $72,500 would confirm institutional news is overpowering current Extreme Fear sentiment, suggesting a trend reversal toward risk-on assets.
• Bearish Invalidation Level: Bitcoin losing the $67,500 support level would indicate macro concerns and potential USD strength are overwhelming positive sector-specific developments, invalidating the bullish narrative.

For the 12-month outlook, the key variable is scalability. If the pilot demonstrates robust settlement volume without operational incidents, expect rapid expansion to other Asian financial hubs. This could establish a new benchmark for securities settlement, potentially pressuring US and European regulators to accelerate their own digital asset frameworks. Over a 5-year horizon, this initiative could fragment global liquidity pools between traditional, bank-chain, and public blockchain settlements, creating new arbitrage vectors and systemic complexity.