According to Reuters, on September 30 the Japanese Ministry of Finance announced the establishment of the “On-Chain Applications Research Association,” to study the feasibility of real-time settlement for government bond trades, with its first meeting planned for October 8. The association will examine the pros and cons of on-chain real-time settlement and the implementation issues, focusing on the current next-day settlement system. The Ministry of Finance will oversee operations and will invite the Bank of Japan and the Financial Services Agency to take part in the discussions. Members of the association include Takanori Kato and Akira Kamo, professors at the University of Tokyo, as well as Junosuke Shinohara, an associate professor at Waseda University, and Chotaro Morita, a strategist from a private-sector asset management institution. The Ministry of Finance said that the United States already has money-market fund products based on Treasury bills and that can be traded on the blockchain. The association will refer to relevant cases and plans to compile the key points of the discussions by the end of the year.