The launch of Project Pax in Japan has been announced: the three major banks are supporting the initiative to create a stablecoin platform for international payments.
Datachain, a Japanese blockchain startup, has announced the launch of Project Pax, a stablecoin platform designed to facilitate cross-border payments in international commercial transactions.
According to the official statement from September 5, the three major Japanese banks—Mitsubishi UFJ Bank, Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation, and Mizuho Bank—are supporting the initiative. The project is a collaboration between Datachain, Progmat, and TOKI, three Japanese companies in the blockchain and digital asset sectors.
Stablecoins for commercial transactions
The global market for cross-border payments, valued at $182 trillion, faces inefficiencies in terms of speed, accessibility, and costs. Progmat and Datachain aim to leverage stablecoins to enable fast, cost-effective, and around-the-clock cross-border transfers.
Project Pax aims to promote the use of stablecoins as a tool for business payments. According to the statement, the stablecoin platform will use the existing API framework of the SWIFT network to allow banks to instruct the platform to settle transactions on the blockchain. This approach will enable financial institutions to avoid operational redundancies in fiat currency transfers and minimize investment costs.
Project Pax will start with a prototype and aims to commercialize the platform by 2025, as stated in the announcement.