(TOKIO, Japan / Ljubljana, SLOVENIA – 29th October 2026) — STANDAGE Inc. and CargoX today announced that CargoX's electronic bill of lading (eBL) platform will provide the document layer of a payment-integrated trade platform that STANDAGE and DCP Co., Ltd., provider of Japan's tokenized deposit platform DCP, have begun to study jointly, targeting commercial launch in fiscal year 2028. The Shoko Chukin Bank, Ltd. participates in the initiative and issues the tokenized deposit “DCJPY”, which the parties will test settling against eBLs in a single, simultaneous transaction. Preparations for pilot tests are under way.
The initiative addresses a problem that digitization has so far only half-solved. Electronic bills of lading have removed the courier from the document leg of a trade transaction, but the payment leg has continued to run separately — through correspondent banking, on its own timetable and at its own cost. Documents can now move in seconds while the money behind them still takes days, leaving the two legs unsynchronized and the counterparty risk between them unresolved.
By holding the eBL and the payment on connected infrastructure, the initiative aims to demonstrate that title to goods and the funds paid for them can change hands at the same moment — delivery-versus-payment, applied to physical trade.
How it works
Under the arrangement being studied, a seller would issue an eBL through the CargoX Platform and deposit it into a digital vault operated within STANDAGE's Digitrad Payments platform. The buyer could review the documents and submit a payment request online at any time, in step with the container rather than with bank opening hours. Following the bank's required checks, settlement from the buyer's tokenized deposit account with The Shoko Chukin Bank on DCP's platform and the transfer of the eBL would be linked by smart contract, with the eBL released to the buyer only once the movement of funds is confirmed.
Because the release of the document is conditioned on confirmed movement of funds rather than on a payment instruction being issued, the exposure each party carries to the other's performance in the interval between the two is substantially reduced.
Why it matters
For exporters, the arrangement is expected to reduce the credit exposure that arises when goods ship before payment clears, and to shorten the interval between shipment and collection. For importers, it is intended to remove the document-in-transit gap that routinely produces demurrage charges at the port of discharge. For banks, documents that arrive as data rather than paper are expected to make sanctions and anti-money-laundering screening more efficient — not only faster, but more precise and less exposed to manual error — and to leave a durable audit trail.
The first phase is deliberately narrow. It would use test transactions to establish whether the mechanism works end to end, and what would be required to operate it commercially, targeting fiscal year 2028.
Regulatory context
The initiative takes place against a broad shift in the legal standing of electronic trade documents. Legislation based on the UNCITRAL Model Law on Electronic Transferable Records (MLETR) has been enacted in the United Kingdom, Singapore and a growing number of other jurisdictions, giving electronic bills of lading legal recognition alongside paper. In Japan, the Cabinet approved on 23 October bills, including amendments to the Commercial Code, that would allow bills of lading to be issued electronically, for submission to the current session of the Diet, and the government’s Basic Policy 2026 explicitly calls for the promotion of on-chain finance.
Tokenized deposits have moved in parallel. Unlike stablecoins, a tokenized deposit remains a claim on a licensed bank, which allows programmable settlement to be built on existing regulatory foundations rather than alongside them.
The parties
CargoX Platform — provides the electronic bill of lading platform, approved by the International Group of P&I Clubs and meeting the latest DCSA interoperability requirements, on which the trade documents are issued and transferred.
STANDAGE — provides Digitrad Payments, the platform through which buyers and sellers transact, and the digital vault mechanism that holds the eBL in escrow between issuance and release.
DCP Co., Ltd. — provides the tokenized deposit platform DCP, on which the payment leg is executed.
The Shoko Chukin Bank — issues the tokenized deposit “DCJPY”, and performs the bank's standard document verification and compliance screening.
We are establishing electronic trade documents and payments as a reliable foundation for international trade, bringing trust and scalability to the way global commerce operates. Together with Standage’s Digitrad trade platform we’re bringing the power of blockchain-secured eBL transfer paired with simultaneous payment to market that is ripe for disruption, helping banks and businesses reduce fraud, improve efficiency, and meet the demands of modern trade.
Trade has been digitizing one document at a time for twenty years, and the payment has stayed where it was. What makes this initiative different is that we are not making the paperwork faster — we are closing the gap between the goods changing hands and the money changing hands. If that works, it changes what a trade transaction costs and how much risk each side has to carry.
About the organizations
CARGOX PLATFORM
CargoX is one of the leading providers of blockchain-based electronic trade document solutions, enhancing trust in the digital economy. Its Blockchain Document Transfer (BDT) platform enables the creation, signing and transfer of electronic trade documents. Today, more than 180,000 businesses and organizations worldwide use the platform, which has processed over 14 million documents. CargoX supports trade digitalization initiatives in Egypt, Abu Dhabi and across the UAE, and works with leading ocean carriers, including Evergreen Line and HMM. The company operates across Europe, the Middle East, Africa and Asia.
For more information, visit cargox.io.
STANDAGE INC.
STANDAGE Inc. is a Tokyo-headquartered trade technology company, established in 2017. It develops and provides digital trade platforms, Boeki Cloud and Digitrad Payments, and blockchain-based trade settlement systems, together with export support services for SMEs and mid-sized companies, including overseas sales-channel development and trade operations on their behalf (“Omakase Boeki”). wp.standage.co.jp/us/
DCP CO., LTD.
DCP digitalizes the roles of every form of currency and value, connecting aspirations with business. The distinct aspirations of three parties—ourselves, financial institutions including banks, and people around the world—come together into a single form through our platform, creating new value while supporting the economies and industries of Japan and the world. DCP also serves as the secretariat of the “Digital Currency Forum,” launched in December 2020.
Media contacts
CargoX Ltd.
Peter Kern - VP of Commercial
[email protected]
STANDAGE Inc.
Tyrone Lara — Global Marketing
[email protected]
tel: +81-3-6435-3371