Trading Giant Mitsui Purportedly Mulling Over New Gold-Based Stablecoin

Japanese trading house Mitsui is purportedly planning to issue a digital currency pegged to gold, as per a recent report released by local news agency Nikkei Asia.

Dubbed ZipangCoin (ZPG), Mitsui’s new virtual currency will purportedly be issued as early as this month and will be available to retail investors through digital asset exchanges.

It is to be noted that the aforementioned stablecoin will be linked to gold prices at yen-denominated prices by Mitsui from the London Metal Exchange, with 1 ZPG valued equivalent to 1 gram of gold and guaranteed by Sumitomo Mitsui Banking.

As per the report, the new gold stablecoin will be originally offered through Mitsui’s proprietary digital asset exchange and later made available on other crypto exchanges. The trading house instigated a virtual asset trading platform with Seven Bank Japan, registering the crypto exchange with the Kanto Local Finance Bureau under Japan’s Financial Services Agency approval.

Mitsui is not the only Japanese organization focused on stablecoin development. In the month of November last year, a consortium of seventy four firms including Sumitomo Mitsui Financial, Mitsubishi UFJ, Mizuho Financial declared a trial of DCJPY, a bank deposit-backed yen-based digital currency.

As per Nikkei, Mitsui hopes to issue its retail-focused ZPG ahead of DCJPY.