Japan has been a country which has maintained the most ‘open’ attitude towards Bitcoins and cryptocurrencies. The country has been quite welcoming to this new economic innovation than most other Asian nations. Cryptocurrency trading has become as mainstream as investing in stocks in Japan - and the country is taking progressive steps towards promoting it. MUFG, Japan’s largest bank is now all set to launch their own cryptocurrency exchange.

MUFG, which stands for Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group Corporation is the most significant bank in Japan and the fourth largest bank globally. Reports from Japan now point that the bank has notified the Japanese finance authorities - the Financial Services Agency (JFSA) about their plans to start off a cryptocurrency exchange.

In addition to starting off their cryptocurrency exchange, the MUFG bank will also be launching their own cryptocurrency. These plans sound quite similar to that of the Bank of England, which too, was considering to launch their own cryptocurrency. This MUFG issued cryptocurrency would be backed by the bank and would be legal tender in Japan.

The cryptocurrency issued by the bank could be used for shopping as well as settlements and remittances in the nation. The coin will be a regulated currency which the bank would control - hence controlling drastic fluctuations. The current plans are that the MUFG bank will keep the rates of the currency pegged at 1 coin = 1 Japanese Yen. It would be interesting to see once it comes out as users would be able to use it as a base to buy other cryptocurrencies without having to depend on the USDT.

As stated above regarding the Bank of England, there are many countries which are possibly looking at giving Bitcoin a quasi-legal status. Russia is one of the biggest such names - the country intends to legalize cryptocurrencies in the months to follow (expected in July 2018). Moreover, Russian President Vladimir Putin has also been urging for the BRICS nation to adapt to a popular cryptocurrency for trade. He also has a similar plan for the EEU.

In addition to Russia, Japan, and England, Venezuela too, has a progressive view about their oil-backed cryptocurrency, the Petro. He has been urging other world leaders to help him in this endeavor and to invest in the cryptocurrency.

In addition to launching a cryptocurrency exchange and a cryptocurrency of their own, the bank is also working on a plan to start off the MUFG Trust. This will be used to keep the client holdings in accounts which can be linked to various exchanges but will not involve sending the money in the control of these exchanges. This trust would work similar to how segregated accounts work for Forex trading. This will help protect the funds from being lost even if the bank goes bankrupt.

This plan is all set to go live in April 2018 when these cryptocurrency oriented services will go live. The only thing that the bank is waiting for now is the approval of the JFSA. The bank is awaiting the financial authorities to give the nod about Bitcoin being an asset which can be kept in a trust. When this starts off, this will be the first time a trust arrangement would be made for cryptocurrencies!