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Japanese Internet Giant Taps Zero Hash for Settlement in Yen, US Dollar Stablecoins

The companies say the move will eliminate bottlenecks in the moving and settling of Japanese yen associated with traditional financial rails.

Edward Woodford, co-founder of Seed CX and Zero Hash (far right), appears on a panel at Consensus 2019.
Edward Woodford, co-founder of Seed CX and Zero Hash (far right), appears on a panel at Consensus 2019.

A cryptocurrency subsidiary of the Japanese internet conglomerate GMO Internet Group has elected digital asset custodian Zero Hash for the settlement of its Japanese yen and U.S. dollar-pegged stablecoins.

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According to a press release on Wednesday, GMO-Z.com Trust Company's GYEN and ZUSD stablecoins are now supported on Zero Hash's network enabling users to fund, withdraw and settle in digital Japanese yen (JPY).

The companies say the move will eliminate bottlenecks associated with moving and settling in JPY where the cross-border transfer of the Asian currency can sometimes take days or weeks with existing financial rails.

The announcement comes after GMO's stablecoin subsidiary late last year secured regulatory blessings from the New York Department of Financial Services. In December, GMO was issued a trust enabling it to legally “issue, administer and redeem” yen- and U.S. dollar-pegged stablecoins in New York.

“Many of the institutional counterparties we speak with express frustration over transaction times when dealing with JPY, said Kurt Bierbower, GMO Trust’s senior vice president of Business Development. "With Zero Hash, we set out to solve this problem.”

See also: Japanese Internet Giant Licensed to Issue First JPY-Pegged Stablecoin in New York

Sebastian Sinclair

Sebastian Sinclair is the market and news reporter for CoinDesk operating in the South East Asia timezone. He has experience trading in the cryptocurrency markets, providing technical analysis and covering news developments affecting the movements on bitcoin and the industry as a whole. He currently holds no cryptocurrencies.

Sebastian Sinclair