Japan to Allow Foreign Trust Stablecoins in Payments

Japan’s Financial Services Agency finalized rules published May 19 that let qualifying foreign trust-backed stablecoins be treated as regulated electronic payment instruments from June 1, 2026.

The amendment reclassifies eligible foreign trust-type stablecoins under the Payment Services Act as Electronic Payment Instruments, allowing them to be used on Japan’s payment rails when issuers meet the new requirements. A trust-type stablecoin is defined as a digital token fully backed by reserves held in a trust and redeemable at par for a fiat currency.

The FSA requires an equivalence assessment of the issuer’s home jurisdiction. That assessment covers licensing regimes, auditing standards and anti-money laundering (AML) controls comparable to Japan’s rules. The regulation also requires same-currency reserves so the token is backed in the same fiat to limit exchange-rate exposure.

Domestic intermediaries and payment service providers must verify that foreign issuers meet the equivalence conditions before offering the instruments to customers in Japan. The rules place primary responsibility for customer-facing checks on those local firms.

Until now many foreign-issued stablecoins faced regulatory friction in Japan, where regulators often classified them as securities or left their legal status unclear, a situation that limited their use in everyday payments. The new classification creates a defined route for eligible foreign trust-type stablecoins to enter the market.

Market participants are preparing for the June 1 start date. SBI VC Trade has said it is exploring licensed services that could involve global stablecoins such as USDC. Regulators and firms will watch issuance and onshore activity after June 1 to see how many foreign issuers qualify and how intermediaries apply the verification process.

In the United States, the Senate Banking Committee voted 15 to 9 to advance the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act, commonly called the CLARITY Act. The bill seeks to assign regulatory jurisdiction between the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission and to establish stablecoin-specific rules.

Senator Cynthia Lummis described the bill as one that would “establish clear rules at the SEC and CFTC to protect good actors, punish bad ones, and bring the digital asset industry back to America.” A key policy compromise in the bill would bar passive, deposit-like interest on payment stablecoins while permitting activity-based rewards for users.

Jeane Vidoni, chief executive of Penn Community Bank, urged Congress to close what she called a potential loophole so any prohibition on stablecoin interest would apply not only to issuers but also to exchanges, affiliates and intermediaries that could deliver equivalent returns through another corporate structure.

Analysts and market indicators offer probability estimates for U.S. passage: Alex Thorn of Galaxy Digital estimated a 65%–75% chance the CLARITY Act could become law in 2026, while prediction markets put the likelihood near 64%.

Regulatory changes in Japan and legislative action in the U.S. establish formal conditions for stablecoin access in two major markets. Observers will track how many foreign trust-type stablecoins gain acceptance in Japan and how the verification and compliance processes are implemented.