Japan's largest banking group MUFG has developed its own Bitcoin

Japan’s largest financial institution, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group (MUFG), has revealed that it has developed its own digital currency, the MUFG coin, as part of its research into blockchain and distributed ledger technology.

According to the Asahi Shimbun, the digital currency project seeks to replicate Bitcoin’s inherent peer-to-peer (P2P) transactions and mobile wallet features, but does not rely on the Bitcoin blockchain’s distributed network of miners.

UFJ Financial Group has been piloting the project since last fall with the goal of reducing the costs of managing financial transactions, particularly peer-to-peer transfers and remittances.

Representatives from Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ, a subsidiary of UFJ Financial Group, confirmed the news to CoinDesk, but did not provide further details.

Similarly, Citigroup said in July last year that it had created a proprietary network called Citicoin.

In addition, SBI Holdings this week announced a new company with distributed ledger startup Ripple and an investment in bitcoin exchange Kraken. Meanwhile, MUFG’s competitors, including Barclays, BBVA and Santander, have made announcements about their own projects.

It is reported that Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group previously revealed that it has joined the blockchain technology alliance R3CEV. As of now, R3CEV has recruited 42 global banks and is currently expanding its membership to non-bank institutions.

Original article: http://www.coindesk.com/japans-bank-tokyo-mitsubishi-mufg-coin/
By Pete Rizzo
Translator: Overnight porridge
Source (translation): Babbitt Information (http://www.8btc.com/mufg-coin)