"Tokenised Deposits" vs "Deposit Tokens": Datachain's Conceptual Compass for Japan's On-Chain Banking Future

Two Concepts, One Critical Distinction

The report's central contribution is terminological clarity. A tokenised deposit is, in essence, a re-recording of an existing deposit liability: the bank's customer ledger is migrated onto distributed ledger technology (DLT), but the underlying claim, balance updates, and transfers continue to be governed by the bank's contractual ledger system. A deposit token, by contrast, restructures the deposit claim into a divisible, transferable digital unit, where the on-chain token transfer itself constitutes the transfer of value. Put plainly: the former digitises the ledger, the latter tokenises the value itself.

Three Architectural Archetypes

Building on the EBA's framework, Datachain organises implementation models along two axes—where the deposit claim is recorded (legacy vs. DLT) and whether the DLT record is legally recognised as a deposit claim—yielding three categories: (1) Single DLT Ledger, in which the legacy core banking ledger is fully replaced by DLT and on-chain records carry direct legal status; (2) Token Conversion, where deposits remain on traditional ledgers and customers convert balances into on-chain tokens (such as e-money tokens); and (3) Parallel Operation, in which legacy and DLT ledgers run in tandem with both balances treated as deposit claims.

Japan's Legal Frontier

While positioning deposit tokens as the longer-term destination, Datachain argues that tokenised deposits represent the urgent near-term implementation goal. The pivotal legal question is whether on-chain customer rights qualify as deposit claims under Japan's Banking Act and Deposit Insurance Act. The market is already moving: DeCurret DCP's DCJPY has been commercially live since 2024, with SBI Securities, Daiwa Securities and partners completing security token DVP settlement testing in August 2025, and Japan Post Bank announcing rollout within FY2026. Internationally, J.P. Morgan launched its USD deposit token JPM Coin (JPMD) on the public Base blockchain for institutional clients in November 2025. Against this backdrop, the EBA noted that as of late 2024 only one tokenised deposit project was live within the EEA, with roughly 17% of surveyed banks expecting to engage within two years—evidence that Japan's window to lead is open but narrow.

[Business Development Insights]

1. Strategically separate "ledger digitisation" from "value tokenisation." Tokenised deposits offer the shortest path to interoperability with existing banking rails, while deposit tokens enable peer-to-peer circulation and programmable finance. Product teams should explicitly choose the model based on use case—B2B settlement, digital asset DVP, or Web3-native flows—before committing to architecture.
2. Leverage deposit insurance and interest as competitive moats. Unlike stablecoins, tokenised deposits can fall within deposit insurance and may bear interest, a treatment J.P. Morgan emphasises as a core differentiator for JPM Coin. For corporate treasuries and institutional clients, retaining deposit-class accounting and protections is often a decisive procurement factor.
3. Capture vertical-specific reference cases early. DCJPY is already deployed across security token settlement, environmental value trading and rental payments (with Shinoken Group). Given the EBA's data showing that fully live cases remain rare globally, building deeply integrated, industry-specific tokenised deposit workflows in Japan now could yield internationally referenceable benchmarks—and durable first-mover advantage.

[Sources]

• NADA NEWS, "What is a 'Tokenised Deposit' and How Does it Differ from a 'Deposit Token'? Datachain Organises Implementation Models and Legal Issues" (April 30, 2026): https://www.nadanews.com/346831/
• Datachain Press Release, "Datachain Publishes Research Report on the Architecture and Legal Nature of Tokenised Deposits" (PR TIMES, April 28, 2026): https://prtimes.jp/main/html/rd/p/000000055.000055051.html
• Full Datachain Report (PDF): https://reports.datachain.jp/tokenized-deposits-architecture-and-legal-nature.pdf
• European Banking Authority, "Report on Tokenised Deposits" (December 12, 2024): https://www.eba.europa.eu/sites/default/files/2024-12/4b294386-1235-463f-b9b5-08f255160435/Report%20on%20Tokenised%20deposits.pdf
• EBA Press Release, "The EBA assesses potential benefits and challenges of tokenised deposits": https://www.eba.europa.eu/publications-and-media/press-releases/eba-assesses-potential-benefits-and-challenges-tokenised-deposits
• DeCurret DCP, "Launch of Collaboration on Japan's First Live-Issuance Verification of Security Token Settlement Using Tokenised Deposits" (December 26, 2025): https://www.decurret-dcp.com/pressrelease/pr-20251226.html
• E-Payments Magazine, "Japan Post Bank to Provide 'Tokenised Deposits' in FY2026 Using DCJPY" (September 1, 2025): https://epayments.jp/archives/53067
• J.P. Morgan, "JPM Coin: Institutional Deposit Tokens & Blockchain Payments by Kinexys": https://www.jpmorgan.com/kinexys/digital-payments/jpm-coin
• The Block, "JPMorgan officially rolls out 'JPM Coin' deposit token on Base" (November 12, 2025): https://www.theblock.co/post/378493/jpmorgan-deposit-token-jpm-coin
• ClearBank, "Tokenised deposits explained" (referencing EBA Dec 2024 statistics): https://clear.bank/learn/insights/tokenised-deposits-explained-what-are-they-and-how-do-they-work