Japan’s banking sector is in the early stages of developing tokenised deposit infrastructure designed to operate within the country’s regulated financial system. One such initiative, DCJPY, enables banks to issue and manage deposit liabilities recorded on a blockchain. These tokenised deposits are structured to function within existing licensing and compliance frameworks, supporting real-time, programmable settlement between participating institutions. The platform, operated by DeCurret DCP, forms part of a broader effort to modernise payment systems without changing underlying regulatory structures. Mai Kaneko, international business lead at DeCurret DCP, described the platform as a technical extension of commercial bank money. It is intended to enable programmable transactions while maintaining the regulatory and accounting characteristics of conventional deposits. DCJPY contributes to Japan’s wider preparations for next-generation settlement infrastructure, including use cases in domestic and cross-border payments involving digital instruments issued by regulated financial institutions. DCJPY’s role within Japan’s digital money landscape Digital money initiatives led by commercial banks have become a key focus in Japan’s financial sector. Kaneko described DCJPY as DeCurret DCP’s contribution to this national development. The platform allows participating banks to convert conventional deposits into tokenised equivalents and transfer them across a shared ledger. Its smart contract architecture standardises the processes of issuance, transfer and redemption. Kaneko noted that the system does not require changes to customer relationships or regulatory permissions. DCJPY is designed to function within Japan’s two-tier banking model and to coexist with other forms of digital money, including stablecoins and trust-based instruments developed by licensed financial institutions. Kaneko referred to DCJPY as “a multi-issuer tokenised deposit platform” and noted that “the first issuing bank is already live, and Japan Post Bank will become the second issuing bank next year.” She explained that financial institutions can adopt the system within current licensing conditions and described it as an extension of existing banking processes, supported by programmable infrastructure. She added that the platform aligns with Japan’s phased approach to digital currency adoption by operating within the boundaries of existing legal and operational frameworks. Building digital money on regulatory clarity and bank trust Kaneko explained that tokenised deposits fall within Japan’s existing financial regulatory framework. “Banks are not required to have any additional licence to issue tokenised deposits,” she said. She distinguished them from stablecoins, explaining: “A stablecoin can be used by anybody, but a tokenised deposit can only be used by the direct clients of the bank.” She noted that tokenised deposits are governed by the same terms as traditional bank accounts and function as digital representations of commercial bank money. Interoperability is a central design principle of the platform. “There is one DCJPY and it is fully interoperable between banks,” she said. The process involves the network issuing an instruction, the bank transferring fiat currency into a segregated account, and the platform minting the corresponding tokens. “All issuance and redemption operations are governed by a standardised smart contract,” she added. This structure is intended to ensure consistency in technical execution across participating institutions. Kaneko identifies corporate settlement as a key application. “For large-volume corporate transactions, tokenised deposits are suitable,” she said. She added that other digital money models present limitations: fund transfer-type stablecoins are subject to “a one million yen per day limit”, while trust-type stablecoins raise concerns about “price stability, accounting treatment and whether different stablecoins are interchangeable.” She argued that tokenised deposits may provide a means of avoiding valuation volatility and simplifying accounting processes for corporates, and that stablecoins may hold potential applications for retail users, Web3 platforms and inbound tourists without domestic bank accounts. Scaling DCJPY through the reach of Japan Post Bank Japan Post Bank’s planned participation represents a significant expansion of the platform’s footprint. Kaneko described the bank’s role as “huge”, citing its extensive nationwide network and position as one of Japan’s largest retail banks. DeCurret DCP is working with Japan Post Bank to explore applications across retail, small and medium-sized enterprises (SME) and public sector domains. Retail use cases under consideration include “digital asset transfers and housing-related payments”. In the SME segment, Kaneko referred to collaboration with firms building a logistics framework known as the “physical internet”, aimed at optimising transport capacity. She also pointed to the potential role of tokenised deposits in distributing public subsidies to residents and businesses via the bank’s existing infrastructure. While still in early phases, these engagements are shaping how tokenised deposits might serve practical payment and distribution needs. DCJPY is live with one issuing bank, GMO Aozora Net Bank, and remains in a pilot phase for broader use. In a proof-of-concept focused on delivery-versus-payment settlement for security tokens, Kaneko reported that automated processes reduced manual workload by approximately 75% compared to existing procedures. She presented this as evidence that rule-based programmable workflows may lower operational burden in settlement-heavy environments when applied in controlled settings. Extending domestic innovation into global connectivity Kaneko outlined plans to connect DCJPY with cross-border networks. She refers to a memorandum of understanding signed with Partior and SBI Shinsei Bank. “Partior is an interbank cross-border network based on blockchain, enabling real-time 24/7 multi-currency transactions,” she said. The collaboration proposes linking DeCurret DCP’s domestic platform with Partior’s international network via a cross-chain connection. “Once the connection is established, Japanese banks can join both networks by integrating with DCJPY,” she added. Kaneko confirmed that SBI Shinsei Bank is expected to be the first participant and noted that other banks have also expressed interest. The project remains in an exploratory phase and is expected to test how institutions might access both domestic and international tokenised payment systems through a unified infrastructure. Co-existing models for Japan’s digital money system Kaneko anticipated that multiple forms of regulated digital money will continue to evolve in parallel. “Tokenised deposits, stablecoins and central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) will co-exist in the future market,” she said. She added that a wholesale CBDC could support interbank settlement where multiple issuing institutions are involved. “There should be some measure that provides finality,” she noted. Japan’s financial sector is progressing with digital money frameworks across banks, trust institutions and regulated issuers, guided by operational needs and supervisory clarity. DCJPY illustrates how tokenised deposits can embed programmability within established financial infrastructure. Its future will depend on institutional adoption and coordination across shared systems. As Japan defines its digital finance architecture, DCJPY will serve as a test case for whether a bank-led model can support secure and scalable settlement in both domestic and cross-border contexts.
