Following rumours in media, the Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ reveals it is planning to release its own digital currency to let its customers transact over the Internet at lower costs.

The date of the release is yet to be announced.

“We can only say that it's true that MUFG is conducting demonstration experiments on the 'Coin' within the company utilizing a block chain technology,” Reuters quotes the bank’s representatives.

Earlier, the newspaper Asahi Shimbun reported that MUFG Сoin was scheduled to be released in Autumn 2017, though the bank’s officials did not disclose any dates. The Coin was rumoured to be mostly intended for money withdrawals through mobile apps. Moreover, according to the newspaper, by Spring 2018, a network of MUFG Coin ATMs would be created to let clients exchange fiat money to the digital currency. Still, the information was not officially confirmed.

“Regarding the speculation (in) media reports, these reports are not based on any announcement by MUFG, and the details have not been decided,” the bank's spokesman said.

The future of MUFG Coin is clear only in the way that it is not going to be a decentralised “cryptocurrency” but rather a centralised kind of digital asset working on the same principles as prepaid electronic money such as “Suica”, already broadly known and used across Japan.

The Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ, Ltd. is the largest commercial financial institution in Japan established on 1 January 2006 following the merger of the Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi and UFJ Bank.

Japan is one of the first countries in the world to proclaim bitcoin digital currency “asset-like values that can be used in making payments,” thus making it a legal equivalent to traditional money.





Elena Platonova