Japan’s GMO Internet plans to release a cryptographic stablecoin

Japanese internet conglomerate GMO Internet Co. Ltd confirmed on Tuesday that it is planning to release a cryptographic stablecoin pegged to the Japanese yen. GMO intends to begin issuing tokens “GMO Japanese YEN (GJY)” at the beginning of the 2019 financial year.

As several corporations are hinting at their intentions of launching their own assets, GMO stated what drove them to take the decision. “The yen-pegged currency collateralized by the Japanese yen is highly likely to be an ideal currency that combines high creditworthiness, low fees and speed of remittance,” the company claimed, adding, “By issuing the yen-pegged currency, GMO Internet will continue to support borderless transactions with creditworthiness.”

GMO Internet’s intention to launch a stablecoin comes as a strategic business step as it started its virtual currency exchange business in May 2017, and its crypto mining business in December. The business areas related to digital currencies can roughly be divided into three areas – exchange, mining and settlement. Since the group already stepped in two areas of “exchange” and “mining”, it was time for the third.

Stable coins are virtual currencies which made price stability stable by mainly supporting the value by statutory currency. According to the official post, “The stable coin which GMO Internet prepares for issuance this time is considering adoption of the currency board system (* 3) in the legal currency collateral type (circle peg currency) secured by Japanese yen.”

In July, GMO launched its blockchain-powered online bank. In the U.S., Gemini and Paxos last month announced that they would issue USD-backed stablecoins. Recently, PwC also announced that it would provide tech expertise to it new decentralized lending platform partner, Cred, to deliver transparency to their USD-backed stablecoin.

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