EJPY Greenlit: Japan Open Chain Pursues a Unique "Domestic Infrastructure × Trust-Type Yen Stablecoin" Path

"Self as Settlor" — A Distinctive Trust Structure

EJPY is designed as a Type-3 Electronic Payment Instrument (trust type) under Japan's Payment Services Act. Japan Blockchain Foundation will itself serve as settlor, having negotiated issuance, redemption, trust-asset management, system requirements, and regulatory compliance with the prospective trustee. Today's release is carefully framed as a "report on preparation status" — the trustee bank's name, available services, and partnered Electronic Payment Instrument Transaction Service Providers will be disclosed progressively. Distribution, transfer, and redemption will be operated through licensed intermediaries.

Japan Open Chain — The Domestic Infrastructure Differentiator

EJPY's defining feature is that its primary issuance base is JOC. JOC is an Ethereum-fully-compatible Layer 1 public chain using Proof of Authority (PoA). Validators include Dentsu, TIS, NTT Communications, Sony Group's Coregear, Minna Bank, pixiv, Hatena, SBINFT, and Kyoto University of the Arts — currently 14 firms, targeting 21. Performance reaches roughly 400 TPS for complex ERC-20 contract execution and approximately 2,000 TPS for simple token transfers — several dozen times faster than Ethereum mainnet's 15 TPS. Japan-law-compliant operation and decentralization across major domestic enterprises lend institutional credibility. Multichain issuance on Ethereum extends reach; JOC provides cost, speed, and compliance advantages.

The Sixth Entrant — Japan's Yen Stablecoin Competitive Map

With EJPY's decision, Japan's yen stablecoin lineup now spans six efforts: JPYC (funds-transfer type, JPYC Inc.), JPYSC (trust type, SBI × Startale × Shinsei Trust, Q1 FY2026), Progmat Coin (trust type, Mitsubishi UFJ Trust et al.), DCJPY (deposit token type, DeCurret DCP), the three-megabank joint stablecoin (under review), and now EJPY. By scheme, the market divides into the funds-transfer type for retail small-ticket payments and the trust/deposit-token types for B2B and institutional settlement. EJPY claims a unique position: a trust-type stablecoin where the settlor is a blockchain infrastructure company — distinct from all financial-institution-led peers.

[Business Development Insights]

1. The strategic logic of "own chain × own stablecoin" vertical integration — JOC's central challenge had been the gap between strong compliance posture and thin real-world transaction volume. Issuing EJPY transforms JOC from a technical substrate into "infrastructure where actual value transfers occur." For infrastructure providers, the ability to issue an in-house stablecoin determines transaction-creation capability across the ecosystem. Web3 infrastructure firms should design stablecoin strategy as a unified element of platform strategy.
2. The trust-type face-off: financial-institution-led vs. blockchain-firm-led — Where JPYSC (SBI × Shinsei Trust) and Progmat Coin (Mitsubishi UFJ Trust) are bank-led, EJPY positions a blockchain infrastructure firm as settlor. The bank-led camp brings financial credibility and banking-network reach; the Web3-native camp brings ecosystem fit and dApp composability. Each will pursue different customer segments. Businesses must choose connections based on which worldview their settlement flows align with.
3. "Preparation-stage announcements" as a stablecoin industry disclosure pattern — EJPY's announcement does not even disclose the trustee bank yet — a deliberately cautious "preparation status report." This reflects the stablecoin sector's regulator-parallel-track reality. Marketing-wise, early announcements stake out market position; on the regulatory side, staged disclosure mitigates blowback risk. This balance is an information strategy any company entering the Web3 × finance space should learn from.

[Sources]

• NADA NEWS "Japan Blockchain Foundation to Issue Trust-Type Yen Stablecoin 'EJPY'" (May 13, 2026) https://www.nadanews.com/348346/
• Japan Blockchain Foundation Official Release "EJPY Trust-Type Yen Stablecoin Issuance" (May 13, 2026) https://www.jbfd.org/news/joc-ejpy
• PR TIMES "Japan Blockchain Foundation to Issue Trust-Type Yen Stablecoin EJPY" https://prtimes.jp/main/html/rd/p/000000059.000117597.html
• Japan Open Chain Official Site https://www.japanopenchain.org/
• Japan Open Chain Official Documentation "About the JOC Project" https://www.japanopenchain.org/docs/
• Atarashii Keizai "Japan Blockchain Foundation to Issue Trust-Type Yen Stablecoin EJPY" (May 13, 2026) https://www.neweconomy.jp/posts/573028
• JinaCoin "Yen Stablecoin Competition Intensifies: JOC's EJPY to Launch" (May 13, 2026) https://jinacoin.ne.jp/joc-ejpy-20260513/
• Bittimes "Trust-Type Yen Stablecoin EJPY to Launch on Domestic Chain JOC" https://bittimes.net/news/222967.html
• Business+IT "SBI Holdings and Startale Announce Trust-Type Yen Stablecoin JPYSC" (Feb 27, 2026) https://www.sbbit.jp/article/fj/181669
• CoinDesk Japan "NTT Communications Joins Japan Open Chain as a Validator" https://www.coindeskjapan.com/178939/