Japan's Financial Services Agency has approved a fourth pilot project to use stablecoins for cross-border trade settlements. The key is that it expands the scope beyond payments to include trade finance.

According to Cryptopolitan, a blockchain media outlet, the new pilot will be run around TradeWaltz, an operator of a trade platform. TradeWaltz runs a software-as-a-service platform that digitises international trade documents. It will test a structure that links this to a stablecoin system to pay export financing proceeds. TradeWaltz explained that physical documents such as letters of credit and bills of lading are still used in trade and that the process relies on slow, manual checks and postal handling.

The process starts when an exporter uploads shipping documents to TradeWaltz. After a bank approves the purchase of the export receivable, a stablecoin payment is executed. At this stage, participation is allowed for the receivables purchase and settlement stage between the exporter and the bank. An expansion to include the importer and the import-side bank could be reviewed as a subsequent stage.

Participating institutions again include Japan's three megabanks, Mizuho Bank, MUFG Bank and Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corp. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust and Banking Corp, four lenders and NTT Data are also included. TradeWaltz said participating financial institutions will jointly review a "settlement token", which aligns with a joint stablecoin concept the three megabanks have pursued in a separate pilot.

The approval is the fourth case under the Japanese regulator's payments innovation project criteria. It is the 15th approval overall since it launched a fintech proof-of-concept hub in 2017. The payments innovation project was created in November 2025 as a payments-focused track and is handled by experts in blockchain, financial law and overseas trends.

Earlier pilots have also expanded in stages. The first project in November 2025 covered the three megabanks' plan to issue a joint stablecoin for payments. The second project in February 2026 added Nomura and Daiwa to test blockchain-based securities transfers and stablecoin payments. The third project in April 2026 was carried out as a pilot of interbank settlement of tokenised deposits by Decurret DCP and GMO Aozora Net Bank.

From market and regulatory perspectives, the project also ties in with changes in Japan's digital asset policy. Japan's Financial Services Agency set up a dedicated unit for cryptocurrencies and stablecoins in August 2026. This is part of a plan to reclassify cryptocurrencies as financial products and lower the top tax rate.

A commercialisation schedule was also presented. A trust-based yen stablecoin is expected to be deployed in actual commerce within the fiscal year ending March 2027. Japan's Financial Services Agency plans to disclose compliance and supervisory results after this experiment ends, as with other payments innovation project cases. It has not set an end date, and the pilot will first proceed from September 2026.

Participating institutions also presented a follow-up roadmap. It involves introducing electronic bills of lading and a smart contract-based escrow service to move more trade procedures on-chain. As a result, the pilot is expected to go beyond testing a payment method and move to a stage of also verifying trade document processing and automation of bank settlement.