According to CoinMeta, and as reported by Reuters, the Japanese Ministry of Finance announced on September 30 the establishment of a "Blockchain Applications Research Group" to study the feasibility of instant settlement in government bond transactions, with plans to hold its first meeting on October 8. The research group will focus on the current next-day settlement system and analyze the pros and cons of instant settlement on blockchain, as well as the implementation issues. The Ministry of Finance is responsible for operating the group, which has invited the Bank of Japan and the Financial Services Agency to participate in the discussions. Members of the research group include Professor Takahito Kato and Akihiko Kamio from the University of Tokyo, Associate Professor Junnosuke Shinoda from Waseda University, and Masataro Morita, a strategist from a private sector asset management firm. The Ministry of Finance stated that the United States already has money market fund products based on government bonds that can be traded on blockchain, and the research group will refer to these cases. They also plan to summarize the key points of discussion within this year.