The Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ Bank (MUFG) is developing its own digital currency. According to an Asahi Shimbun article

, bank officials named the cryptocurrency “MUFG coin”. The project started last fall and the MUFG cryptocurrency will not rely on a blockchain powered by miners, but on a P2P system that uses smartphones to verify the existence of digital tokens.

The MUFG coin project was developed to show that blockchain-based systems could result in sizable savings in managerial costs, transaction fees and tariffs associated with international remittances.

“if it is practical, it is a significant savings in the cost of management, such as financial transactions, and that it can cheaper commissions to  international remittance and transfers.”

Japanese institutional interest in distributed ledger startups and companies has been rapidly increasing as of late. SBI Holdings, a Japanese venture capital firm, joined in Kraken’s series B

fundraising round today.

SBI Holdings also partnered with Ripple recently to create a new company called SBI Ripple Asia. The new outfit aims introduce Ripple blockchain products into the Asian markets.

Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ is also part of the R3CEV consortium of financial institutions that have taken a keen interest in distributed ledgers and their applications in financial markets. The R3CEV group currently consists of 42 international financial institutions and includes the likes of Barclays, TD Bank and Credit Suisse.

 

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