Japan's government and central bank plan to advance blockchain settlement infrastructure, targeting 24/7 real-time settlement for government bonds and stocks.

According to TechFlow, on August 26, The Nikkei reported that Japan’s Financial Services Agency, Ministry of Finance, Bank of Japan, and financial institutions plan to establish a research group in the summer of 2026 to advance the development of next-generation payment and settlement infrastructure based on blockchain (distributed ledger), aiming to finalize concrete implementation plans by early 2027.

The initiative will initially focus on government bond and stock trading, with the goal of achieving 24-hour instant settlement for funds and securities. The report notes that while several blockchain financial applications have been tested in the past, this marks the first time the Japanese government and the central bank have set a clear timeline for the actual deployment of related infrastructure.