Japan's FSA Launches an On-Chain Finance Forum for the AI Era

Introduction

On 25 September 2026, Japan's Financial Services Agency (FSA) announced the launch of the On-Chain Finance Forum for the AI Era. The forum is a cross-government body chaired by the Minister of State for Financial Services. Its job is to push blockchain-based finance, which the FSA calls "on-chain finance", into practical use, and to promote the sound use of AI and related technologies in finance.

Why the FSA is doing this

The FSA frames the initiative around payments. Its overview says that payments in the AI era should run 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, be programmable so that they connect with commercial and logistics flows, and be stable and secure enough to be trusted as payment infrastructure.

The FSA sees on-chain finance as the way to deliver these features, used in a "best mix" with existing financial infrastructure, which it calls "off-chain finance".

The underlying policy document is the financial strategy for promoting growth investment, dated 21 July 2026. It describes an era of "agentic commerce", in which AI agents carry out economic activity on their own, and warns that if Japan's payment infrastructure cannot keep up, this could lead to greater reliance on foreign payment infrastructure, weakening the country's competitiveness and raising economic security risks.

Who sits on the forum

Chair: the Minister of State for Financial Services
Eight outside experts: academics from the University of Tokyo (professor emeritus), Sophia University, Waseda University, Toyo University and NUCB Business School, a senior fellow at the Japan Research Institute, a partner at PwC Japan's audit firm, and a partner at Brunswick Group
Government and related bodies: the FSA, the Digital Agency, the Ministry of Finance, the Bank of Japan and the Japanese Bankers Association
Secretariat: the FSA

The member list is dated 30 September 2026.

What the forum will work on

The FSA's overview lists the following items:

a public-private roadmap for on-chain finance
continuing and expanding the Payment Innovation Project (PIP), which supports proof-of-concept trials
promoting the building of new payment systems
international cooperation and outreach on putting on-chain finance into practice
making Bank of Japan current accounts usable on-chain
using stablecoins and tokenised deposits for government payments to the public
sorting out and clarifying how stablecoins are treated under Japanese laws in general
tokenising Japanese government bonds and similar instruments

The July strategy fills in several of these items. Compatibility with stablecoins in other currencies is seen as important if yen-denominated stablecoins are to be used abroad, so regulators in different countries are to hold talks aimed at a level playing field on matters such as value preservation and redemption rules. A new public-private policy dialogue with Asia on cross-border remittances is also planned. Among the follow-ups listed for other bodies, the Bank of Japan is to compile, within the year, the status of its consideration of the issues and the path towards implementing on-chain current accounts.

Two study groups

Alongside the forum, the work will move forward in two study groups. The first, on developing the environment for on-chain finance, will review how the rules should look for:

tokenisation of various kinds of assets
stablecoins
DEXs, DeFi and wallet providers

On stablecoins, the strategy speaks of reviewing the institutional framework, for example the reserve assets that back a stablecoin, weighing merits and demerits. The DEX, DeFi and wallet item concerns risk-mitigation measures, including regulation that is "neither excessive nor insufficient" for the technology's nature, while watching developments in other countries.

The second study group, on the sound use of AI, will look at:

sound use of AI and related technologies by financial institutions
how markets and financial institutions should be supervised as AI spreads
the risk that quantum computers compromise blockchain technology

Timeline

Under the July strategy, the forum is to produce an interim summary first, targeted for early 2027. The forum also appears in the FSA's Strategic Priorities for July 2026 to June 2027, which says the FSA will advance discussions on the social implementation of on-chain finance at the forum.

References

FSA, announcement of the On-Chain Finance Forum for the AI Era (25 September 2026, updated 30 September 2026, Japanese).
FSA, overview of the On-Chain Finance Initiative for the AI Era (Japanese).
Excerpt from the financial strategy for promoting growth investment (21 July 2026, Japanese).
FSA, member list of the On-Chain Finance Forum for the AI Era (as of 30 September 2026, Japanese).
FSA, FSA Strategic Priorities: July 2026 - June 2027.

This article is for general information only and is not legal advice.

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