In the land of the rising sun, where tradition reigns supreme, a behemoth of banking, Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group (SMFG), has decided to take a leap of faith into the uncharted waters of stablecoins 🌊. Its subsidiary, Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation (SMBC), Japan’s second-largest bank, is spearheading this daring endeavor, because, why not? 🤷♂️
In a move that screams “innovation” (or desperation, depending on who you ask 🙄), SMBC has joined forces with the illustrious Ava Labs, the masterminds behind the Avalanche blockchain, and Fireblocks, the digital custodians of the wild west that is cryptocurrency 🤠. Together, they aim to revolutionize cross-border payments, making them faster than a Tokyo bullet train 🚅.
The dream? To sever the shackles of legacy infrastructure, namely the antiquated SWIFT system, which operates at the pace of a sloth on valium 🐌. No more will the world be held hostage by the whims of banking hours and intermediaries! (Or so they hope 🤞).
But, before the champagne corks pop, SMBC must first navigate the treacherous waters of pilot tests, set to commence in the fourth quarter of 2025 or early 2026, in cahoots with Japanese IT firm TIS 📅. Success, of course, is not guaranteed, but a banker’s gotta dream, right? 😊
This daring foray into stablecoins is merely one act in SMBC’s grand blockchain ballet 🩰. The bank has been dabbling in this space since 2019, with stints in “Project Pax” alongside Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group (MUFG) and Mizuho Financial Group in 2024, and other forgotten experiments that time (and press releases) forgot 🙈.
And so, SMBC joins the ranks of the crypto-curious, alongside JPMorgan and Citi, in a quest for faster, better payment systems 🏃♂️. Because, in the immortal words of the great philosopher, Dolly Parton, “Working 9 to 5, what a way to make a living” 🎤… unless you’re a banker, then it’s more like “Working 24/7, what a way to make a stablecoin” 🤑.
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2025-04-01 21:42