Ueda Kazuo, Governor of the Bank of Japan (BoJ), said that the fast integration of blockchain and artificial intelligence is transforming finance, and central banks will play a key role in maintaining trust as crypto-linked infrastructure develops.
Speaking at FIN/SUM 2026 in Tokyo, Ueda described blockchain as entering its “implementation phase,” with decentralized finance (DeFi), smart contracts, and tokenized assets increasingly shaping payments, settlements, and cross-border finance. He emphasized that blockchain’s programmability—like atomic transactions bundling multiple actions into one execution—could simplify complex processes such as delivery-versus-payment (DvP) and cross-border transfers.
Ueda warned that a fragmented ecosystem of blockchains and traditional payment rails could create systemic risks. He suggested that central bank money, possibly in tokenized form, could act as a bridge across networks, preserving the “singleness of money” while allowing innovation.
The BoJ is actively testing these ideas. Its retail central bank digital currency (CBDC) program continues technical experiments to prepare digital cash as a future “anchor of trust.” Project Agorá, a collaboration with other central banks and financial institutions, is exploring tokenized central bank deposits for cross-border payments. A domestic BoJ sandbox is also testing how central bank account deposits could settle transactions on distributed ledgers.
Ueda highlighted AI’s growing role in analyzing blockchain transactions for risk management and AML/CFT compliance, signaling that innovation will come with closer oversight.
The key takeaway: blockchain finance is no longer just experimental. Its long-term stability, Ueda stressed, will depend on central banks embedding trust, liquidity, and settlement finality into the next generation of digital infrastructure.
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