Digital Garage to Test Yen-Pegged Stablecoin on Blockstream Network

An arm of Tokyo-listed internet group Digital Garage is working with bitcoin infrastructure startup Blockstream to test the issuance of a Japanese yen-pegged stablecoin.

Crypto Garage, a Digital Garage subsidiary focusing on blockchain and crypto tech, announced Monday that it has launched a new platform dubbed SettleNet that would allow app development on Blockstream’s inter-exchange settlement network Liquid, including the issuance of stablecoins.

The initiative, slated to last for a year, is one of the first proof-of-concept trials authorized under a regulatory sandbox program managed by the Japanese government, Crypto Garage said.

The project aims to let participating members – specifically, crypto exchanges licensed in Japan at this stage – test the SettleNet platform to issue the stablecoin and to provide a settlement service between the stablecoin and crypto assets. Blockstream also participated in building the platform.

Crypto Garage said the JPY-pegged stablecoin would trade against Blockstream’s bitcoin-pegged token, Liquid Bitcoin (L-BTC), over its Liquid network. Liquid is a bitcoin sidechain project that went live in October. For the trial, transactions will be conducted in limited volume.

Atomic swaps will enable the tokens to be swapped "simultaneously," said Crypto Garage.

The firm continued:

“This will enable rapid, secure and confidential transfer of the crypto assets while eradicating counterparty risk. In addition, SettleNet will provide the regulatory authorities with the functionality to monitor any unlawful trade, including money laundering."

Digital Garage initially collaborated with Blockstream in November 2017 with an aim of fostering blockchain development in Japan. Blockstream CEO Adam Back had said at the time: “The Japanese market is ready for new business models that blockchain technologies can enable.”

Back in October, Japanese IT giant GMO Internet also announced the plans to issue a yen-pegged stablecoin called GMO Japanese Yen (GJY). The firm said at the time that GJY will be issued to Asian markets in the fiscal year of 2019 via Z.com, its crypto exchange subsidiary.

Yen and bitcoin image via Shutterstock