Avalanche Lands $2B+ Japan Real-World Asset Deal as Progmat Ditches Corda

Japan's largest security token platform, Progmat, is moving more than $2 billion in tokenized real-world assets (RWA) from the Corda distributed ledger to a dedicated Avalanche Layer 1 (L1) blockchain.

The assets include tokenized real estate and corporate bonds. The migration, codenamed "Project Keystone," began in autumn 2025 and is scheduled for completion by the end of June 2026.

What Is Progmat and Why Does It Matter?

Progmat is Japan's dominant security token (ST) platform, holding approximately ¥439.6 billion in assets under management. It currently accounts for roughly 63% of cumulative issuance volume and 53.8% of total projects in Japan's national security token market. The platform has facilitated more than ¥216.9 billion in tokenized assets to date, covering real estate-backed securities and tokenized corporate bonds.

Security tokens, for those less familiar, are blockchain-based representations of regulated financial instruments like bonds, real estate shares, or equities. They function like traditional securities but settle and transfer on a blockchain rather than through legacy clearinghouses.

Japan's security token market is growing fast. Industry projections put the sector above ¥1.05 trillion (roughly $7 billion) by the end of 2026, up from its current scale. That growth is pushing platforms like Progmat toward infrastructure capable of handling institutional workloads at a national level.

Why Is Progmat Leaving Corda?

Corda, developed by R3, has been a common choice for enterprise blockchain projects in financial services because it was built specifically for permissioned environments. Progmat completed a full migration to Corda 5 SaaS as recently as October 2024, the first such migration in Asia. Now, less than 18 months later, Corda is being dropped entirely.

Progmat CEO Tatsuya Saito, posting on X as @tatsu_s1203, explained the reasoning directly:

"We're moving Progmat ST from Corda5 to Avalanche, making all ST deals EVM-compatible and progressively permissionless."

EVM stands for Ethereum Virtual Machine. EVM compatibility means that smart contracts, developer tools, and DeFi protocols built for Ethereum can interact with Progmat's platform. That was not possible on Corda. The shift opens Progmat's regulated security tokens to the broader Ethereum ecosystem, including foreign institutional investors and decentralized finance applications.

Three technical factors drove the decision:

• Avalanche L1 architecture: Allows Progmat to control validator access, contract deployment rights, and user permissions without taking the chain offline. That level of customization matters when operating under Japan's Financial Instruments and Exchange Act.
• InterChain Messaging (ICM): Avalanche's native cross-chain communication layer allows assets to move between chains without relying on a single bridge provider.
• Sub-2-second finality: Transactions settle almost instantly, compared to the multi-day settlement windows in traditional finance.

How Does the Cross-Chain Settlement Work?

The migration is not just a chain swap. Progmat is commercializing cross-chain settlement capabilities for the first time, covering two specific use cases.

The first is Delivery Versus Payment (DvP) between security tokens and stablecoins. DvP is a standard settlement mechanism where the transfer of a security and the payment for it happen simultaneously, eliminating counterparty risk. Progmat has been targeting this since October 2021.

The second is Payment Versus Payment (PvP) between stablecoins issued across different legal jurisdictions, enabling cross-border transactions between, for example, Japanese and European stablecoin systems.

These capabilities are built on top of IBC/LCP via Datachain, combined with Avalanche's ICM. Using two protocols rather than one is a deliberate choice to avoid dependency on a single bridge provider. Progmat is partnering with Ava Labs and Datachain to deliver the full cross-chain stack.

Project Trinity and Project Pax

Two internal projects support this work. Project Trinity, announced in August 2025, moved DvP settlement toward commercial deployment. Project Pax, running since September 2024, has built cross-border stablecoin infrastructure with institutions in Europe, South Korea, and Japan. Both projects are now converging under the Avalanche migration.

What Does EVM Compatibility Actually Unlock?

For readers familiar with DeFi or Ethereum development, the implications are practical and specific.

Ethereum's smart contract libraries, development tooling, and DeFi protocols all become accessible to security token issuers on Progmat ST. That means foreign institutional investors can access Japanese tokenized securities through familiar infrastructure. DeFi platforms operating on EVM chains can connect with regulated ST products. And stablecoin projects can settle trades directly against Progmat assets.

Japan's security token market was built on purpose-built, permissioned chains from the beginning. Major financial institutions licensed under Japanese financial law built custody-based models around that structure. The compliance stack stays intact under the Avalanche migration. What changes is the chain layer underneath it.

Is Avalanche Already Established in Japan?

Avalanche has a track record in Japan across industries beyond finance. TIS Inc., which processes roughly half of Japan's credit card volume, runs its Multi-Token Platform on AvaCloud, Avalanche's managed L1 service.

Toyota Blockchain Lab has used Avalanche to explore programmable vehicle life cycles. Konami launched a dedicated NFT platform on an Avalanche L1. Ponta, a loyalty program with approximately 100 million user accounts, issues digital rewards on its dedicated Avalanche L1 called Mugen Chain.

These deployments show a pattern. Japanese enterprises across finance, automotive, gaming, and retail have chosen Avalanche when they need a balance of local regulatory compliance and access to global blockchain standards.

Progmat's migration fits that pattern and extends it into capital markets at a scale not previously seen in the region.

Conclusion

The Progmat migration to Avalanche represents a concrete shift in how regulated financial infrastructure is being rebuilt in Japan. The platform controls the majority of the country's security token market, handles institutional-grade compliance requirements, and is now connecting that infrastructure to the global EVM ecosystem through a dedicated L1 with sub-second finality, customizable permissions, and multi-protocol cross-chain settlement. The technical integration is scheduled to complete by June 2026.

Resources

1. Avalanche on X: Posts (February, 2026)

2. Blog post by Avalanche 1: Progmat Migrates $2B+ of its Tokenized Securities to Avalanche

3. Blog post by Avalanche 2: Where Tradition Meets Innovation: Avalanche’s Growing Influence in Japan