Crypto Custody Specialist Anchorage Digital Offers Japanese Yen Stablecoin

Regulated cryptocurrency custody platform Anchorage Digital is supporting a Japanese yen (JPY) stablecoin, adding to its digital U.S. dollar and euro custodial offerings and fostering fintech use cases from payments to payroll in Japan.

Anchorage custody of the GYEN stablecoin results from a partnership with GMO-Z.com Trust Company, a subsidiary of Japanese financial services and internet conglomerate GMO Internet Group. The JPY stablecoin is approved by the New York State Department of Financial Services (DFS) and is 1:1 backed with assets held at FDIC insured banks, the companies said Tuesday.

Stablecoins such as USDT and USDC have become cornerstones of crypto and the catalysts for new trading paradigms such as decentralized finance (DeFi). But non-crypto natives are now realizing the wider possibilities of stablecoins, and the expansion of use cases is particularly visible when it comes to offering regulated stablecoins in a local currency such as the Japanese yen, according to Anchorage co-founder Diogo Mónica.

“Think about a ride hailing firm or food delivery company, or payroll or remittances. This is about instant availability of funds and the velocity of money in society,” Mónica said in an interview with CoinDesk. “Crypto is just implementation detail. It’s just a way that we built on the internet that has caused this to be so cheap.”

As far as the current climate is concerned, events like the collapse of terraUSD (UST) and sister coin LUNA, followed by several high-profile crypto firms going into bankruptcy have led to a flight to safety, Mónica added.

“Conversations that weren’t really being had last year around whether crypto is part of bankruptcy procedures, are assets commingled etc. were not really asked in 2021,” he said. “These types of questions are now asked every week in 2022. We have the clearest answers because we are a regulated federal bank.”

Read more: Anchorage Digital to Introduce Ether Staking for Institutions as Move to PoS Approaches