Mitsubishi UFG, Japan’s largest financial group and the world’s second-largest bank holding company, is releasing its own crypto wallet! It will be capable of storing and using blockchain-powered digital assets and NFTs. This is a massive win for the industry and proves that the Asian market is heating up.
Mitsubishi UFG’s NFT and Crypto Wallet
The new product is the brainchild of the group’s trust banking arm, the Mitsubishi UFJ Trust and Banking Corporation. According to the press release, the service would be named ProgmatUT, a nod towards utility tokens.
The company confirmed that the wallet would make use of utility tokens to allow users to store a range of different digital assets. Specifically, it would support security tokens and stablecoins. In addition, the wallet will run on a new blockchain protocol. Another huge component of the roadmap is the release of the Progmat coin, the first asset-backed security token in Japan. Once the wallet is live, UFJ and partner firms will issue this new token.
Overall, it appears that Mitsubishi is building an ecosystem that will allow users to issue security tokens and manage them using the new wallet. In parallel, the wallet can support tokenized loyalty point programs.
In terms of timeline and execution, the blockchain network will be live sometime in 2023. Meanwhile, the firm hopes to have a beta version of its ProgmatUT offering ready later this year. In addition, “multiple public offerings” are also in the works.
It seems like Mitsubishi UFG has long seen opportunities in the digital assets and payments space. The upcoming crypto and NFT wallet is actually a product of its 2019 deal with domestic securities giants SBI and Nomura. In recent years, both firms have been aggressively growing their crypto and blockchain-powered tokenized securities offerings. This is in line with the company’s thrust to lead the securities tokens market.
The Firm’s Overall Strategy
This development didn’t come as a shock to the financial market because, over the years, Mitsubishi UFG has been dabbling in the crypto space. Last year, it partnered with Coinbase to allow the exchange to enter Japan. Basically, the firm offered its Quick Deposit service to any of its 40 million customers who use Coinbase’s crypto trading services.
It appears that MUFG is also making internal arrangements to make room for future initiatives. For example, it is suspending the operation of Global Open Network Japan. The financial giant teamed up with Akamai Technologies to launch this blockchain-powered payments project.
MUFG decided to pull the plug to stop the bleeding. It cited reasons like slow transaction growth, a coronavirus pandemic-related slowdown, poor uptake, and a lack of integration with the IoT sector. However, the group stated it would “continue accelerating digital transformation as a core strategy.”
Meanwhile, Animoca Brands is also entering the land of the rising sun. The Hong Kong-based company driving digital property rights via NFTs will now operate in Japan under the strategic subsidiary Animoca Brands KK (Animoca Brands Japan).
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