Former Ripple executive Emi Yoshikawa (에미 요시카와) called plans by a 21-bank consortium led by Goldman Sachs and MUFG Bank to launch a dollar stablecoin a familiar move by banks.

Blockchain media outlet U.Today reported on Sept. 3 that Yoshikawa wrote on X shortly after the official announcement: "It feels like deja vu." She added: "This is exactly how it had to go."

The project is drawing attention because major banks are opting for a structure with greater in-house control rather than using outside blockchain networks. Yoshikawa worked at Ripple as vice president of strategic initiatives from 2016 to 2024 and was responsible for expanding XRP’s institutional network in Asia. Her reaction underscored a view that, even after years of reviewing third-party blockchain solutions, large traditional financial institutions ultimately choose closed infrastructure that lets them directly manage liquidity, regulatory compliance and transaction fees.

MUFG Bank’s move also ties in with its business in Japan. MUFG Bank is the only Asian bank participating in the dollar project, and in Japan it is also working with SMBC and Mizuho to launch yen stablecoin-based payments by March 2027. The effort is based on Progmat, a platform originally created within MUFG. If the plan proceeds as intended, MUFG Bank may be able to build an international conversion system between yen and dollars within a bank-managed blockchain environment.

The areas targeted by the bank consortium also partly overlap with markets already served by regulated crypto stablecoins. Ripple’s RLUSD had a market value of more than $2 billion by September 2026, with more than $1 billion of that issued on the XRP Ledger. RLUSD received approval from Japan’s Financial Services Agency in June and became tradable on SBI VC Trade.

The target markets of the two models are not the same. Bank tokens are aimed at areas that require direct interbank audits, such as settlement within the consortium and transactions between large companies. By contrast, tokens such as RLUSD and USDC were seen as likely to keep their existing positions in open fintech services, retail payments and the DeFi ecosystem. That implies independent regulated stablecoins may still have an edge where fast adoption and low coordination costs matter.

Yoshikawa’s view appears to recognize the effectiveness of blockchain-based payments while questioning the pace of execution by a large bank alliance. She noted that the banks’ choice was not unfamiliar, and also suggested that a structure involving 21 major stakeholders would inevitably make internal rule-setting and governance coordination complex.

As the bank consortium targeting a 2027 launch works to align internal agreement, independent stablecoins such as RLUSD and USDC may keep a time advantage to expand the market first. Whether the stablecoin market splits into bank-centric closed payment networks and open crypto payment networks, rather than converging on a single standard, is emerging as a point to watch.

A stablecoin company of the International Financial Institutions Federation. Well, there is a sense of deja vu, like, yes, that is how it goes. https://t.co/TNiAiEyaM6