Avalanche gains major banking ally as SMBC plans stablecoin launch
SMBC plans stablecoin launch in Avalanche
Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation (SMBC), Japan’s second-largest bank, is preparing to launch a stablecoin on the Avalanche blockchain, marking a significant step in the convergence of traditional finance and digital assets.
According to a report by Nikkei on April 1, SMBC is working alongside Ava Labs, the developer behind Avalanche, and digital asset custody firm Fireblocks, according to Crypto News.
The collaboration will also include Japanese IT services provider TIS, with testing scheduled to begin in late 2025 or early 2026. If successful, full-scale issuance could follow later in the year.
The initiative reflects SMBC’s expanding role in blockchain innovation, following earlier involvement in cross-border stablecoin transfer trials with fellow Japanese banking giants Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group and Mizuho Financial Group. That 2024 effort involved infrastructure partners Progmat and Datachain.
A new phase in SMBC’s blockchain journey
SMBC’s stablecoin project is the latest milestone in its ongoing engagement with blockchain technology. In 2019, it participated in a proof-of-concept with R3’s Marco Polo trade finance platform, and in 2020, joined forces with Contour, a Singapore-based digital trade network.
Stablecoins, digital currencies pegged to traditional assets like the yen or dollar, are increasingly seen by global banks as tools to enable faster, cheaper, and programmable financial services. Industry leaders such as JPMorgan and Citi have already launched internal versions on permissioned blockchains.
For Avalanche, a high-performance smart contract platform, the partnership with SMBC marks a key institutional endorsement in Asia’s regulated finance sector—potentially opening doors to wider adoption of decentralized infrastructure by mainstream banks.
The project is expected to focus on enterprise use cases, including instant settlement, cross-border transactions, and digital asset integration.
Meanwhile, Global investment firm VanEck has filed with the SEC to launch an ETF tracking Avalanche (AVAX). The move highlights growing institutional interest in cryptocurrency.
