Mitsui & Co. Digital Commodities Launches Zipangcoin on OP Mainnet
Mitsui & Co. Digital Commodities is bringing Zipangcoin to OP Mainnet. ZPG is the first commodity-backed cryptoasset issued by a Japanese company to launch on the network.
What is Zipangcoin?
Zipangcoin (ZPG) is a cryptoasset backed by gold, silver, and platinum. Issued by Mitsui & Co. Digital Commodities (MDC), it gives investors exposure to physical commodities through a regulated digital instrument. MDC is a wholly owned subsidiary of Mitsui & Co., Ltd. A Fortune Global 500 company with a market capitalization exceeding $94 billion, Berkshire Hathaway as its largest shareholder at 10%+, and operations across 60 countries.
ZPG is a yield-bearing instrument backed by physical assets, issued by MDC, and distributed through regulated exchanges including GMO Coin. Gold, silver, platinum.
Why OP Mainnet
OP Mainnet is developed by the Optimism Foundation. 50+ chains. 6 billion transactions in 2025. A track record that institutional due diligence can evaluate. MDC did. ZPG is here.
Japan is where institutional financial products are coming onchain first. When they commit, they choose infrastructure with a proven track record: the security model, the production history, and 50+ institutional deployments that make the due diligence case.
OP Stack chains processed over 6 billion transactions in 2025 — 29x growth in two years, the fastest of any blockchain ecosystem. Infrastructure on the network is operated by companies including Coinbase, Sony, Kraken, Bitpanda, and Uniswap: exchanges, fintechs, consumer platforms.
The Broader Picture
The shift on OP Mainnet goes beyond deployment count. A different category of asset is arriving: DeFi protocols, consumer fintech, and now regulated financial instruments backed by physical assets from institutions that have operated in global commodity markets for over a century. Each made the same infrastructure call for different reasons — the security model, the operational track record, the fee structure. ZPG is the institutional commodity layer of that pattern.
A company at this scale putting a regulated financial product on Ethereum L2 infrastructure doesn't happen by accident. The product has to be built. The issuer has to establish a track record. And the infrastructure partner has to have cleared the security and operational bar that institutional due diligence demands.
"Zipangcoin's strength lies in the safety and transparency we have built since 2022 under Japan's rigorous regulatory framework. We are pleased to partner with Optimism to bring a high-quality, commodity-linked digital asset from Japan to investors worldwide. Going forward, we will accelerate our global expansion through partnerships with overseas exchanges.”
Sho Miichi, Representative Director & President, Mitsui & Co. Digital Commodities
"Japan’s clear regulatory framework makes it one of the most compelling markets for on-chain finance. Zipangcoin is a commodity-backed cryptoasset issued by Mitsui & Co. Digital Commodities and will be the first cryptoasset issued by a Japanese company to launch on OP Mainnet. We’re proud to be building this with Mitsui & Co. Digital Commodities. We remain committed to the Japanese market and excited to deepen our work with leading Japanese companies."
Kyle Jenke, Chief Business Officer, OP Labs
What Comes Next
ZPG will be listed on GMO Coin beginning April 20, 2026, with the global press announcement to follow. The listing is the first step in MDC’s multi-chain expansion.
Just a few years ago, the question was whether onchain infrastructure was ready for regulated financial products. Now it's who's already there.
The answer keeps growing.