Japan’s Financial Services Agency (FSA) announced Tuesday amendments to a Cabinet Office Ordinance that would recognize certain foreign trust-type stablecoins as “electronic payment instruments” under the Payment Services Act.
The new rules, published under Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi, will take effect on June 1, 2026.
The amendment creates a framework allowing foreign trust beneficiary rights-based stablecoins issued by overseas trust banks and similar institutions to be handled domestically by registered electronic payment service providers instead of being treated as securities under the Financial Instruments and Exchange Act.
To receive recognition, issuers must satisfy several regulatory conditions. They must operate under foreign laws equivalent to Japan’s banking or payment regulations and remain supervised by authorities capable of cooperating with the FSA.
Reserve assets must be properly managed and independently audited, while issuers must also maintain systems to address criminal misuse, including transaction suspension mechanisms. In addition, the reserve assets and displayed monetary denomination must match in currency.
