JPYSC
JPYSC is a Japanese yen–pegged stablecoin issued by SBI Shinsei Trust Bank and distributed by the licensed cryptocurrency exchange SBI VC Trade. It is Japan's first trust bank–backed yen stablecoin, developed jointly by the SBI Group and the Singapore-based Web3 infrastructure firm Startale Group, and it launched on June 24, 2026 under a restricted, phased rollout.[1][2] Each token is collateralized 1:1 with the yen and is legally classified as an electronic payment instrument under Japan's amended Payment Services Act, making it the first product to reach the market through a legal pathway created specifically for trust bank stablecoins.[1][3]
Overview
JPYSC is a fiat-collateralized stablecoin designed as a yen-denominated settlement medium for on-chain markets. Unlike earlier Japanese yen stablecoins, which were issued under a funds-transfer framework, JPYSC uses a trust-based issuance model in which reserves are managed by a trust bank.[4] SBI has described the token as infrastructure for yen settlement in on-chain markets, intended to bridge traditional financial markets with blockchain-based economies by combining regulatory compliance with programmability.[4][2]
The most distinctive feature of JPYSC is its removal of the transaction ceiling that constrained prior Japanese yen stablecoins. Earlier fund-transfer-type yen stablecoins were subject to a ¥1 million ceiling on both transactions and account balances. Because JPYSC is issued through a trust-based structure, it is exempt from that limit, and the article coverage explicitly states it "carries no transaction cap."[1][2] SBI expects that the absence of the ¥1 million limit, together with lower fees, will make JPYSC usable for both retail and institutional clients, including for large transactions.[4]
Legal Structure and Reserves
JPYSC is classified as a Type III (or "Type 3") Electronic Payment Instrument under Japan's amended Payment Services Act, the first stablecoin to reach the market under the trust-based route the revised framework created.[2][5] It became Japan's first trust-based stablecoin to receive electronic payment instrument status under that law.[4] JPYSC is a privately issued stablecoin and is explicitly not a central bank digital currency.[5]
The reserves backing JPYSC are held by SBI Shinsei Trust Bank in a segregated trust account under Japan's Trust Business Act. This structure is intended to provide what the project calls "bankruptcy remoteness," meaning the reserve assets are legally separated from the balance sheets of SBI Holdings and Startale Group and reserved exclusively to fulfill 1:1 redemptions should an issuing partner face insolvency. The project brands this legal safeguard the "JPYSC Blue Mark."[5] Holders carry a direct legal claim under trust law to the underlying yen held in that segregated account.[1]
According to the project, reserves consist entirely of cash and cash equivalents—physical Japanese yen deposits and highly liquid Japanese Government Bonds (JGBs).[5] The Yahoo Finance coverage similarly describes SBI Shinsei Trust Bank holding reserve assets, cash, and highly liquid yen-denominated instruments in the segregated trust account.[1] Following a 2025 regulatory update, trust-based issuers can invest up to 50% of reserves in short-term government bonds, and JPYSC's operating model is described as allowing short-term JGB investments for liquidity while maintaining a low-risk yield profile.[5]
Governance and control. Issuance and redemption of JPYSC are collectively controlled by SBI Shinsei Trust Bank, which manages the segregated trust accounts and the corresponding on-chain minting and burning, and SBI VC Trade, which handles institutional onboarding and transactional interfaces.[7][5] Under Japan's Type III Electronic Payment Instrument framework, the reserves are held in segregated trust accounts subject to Financial Services Agency supervision, trust-law protections, and periodic reporting and attestation requirements.[7] As a result, JPYSC combines centralized-stablecoin operational controls with a regulatory structure in which oversight of the issuing entities and ring-fenced trust assets is intended to serve as the primary safeguard for holders, rather than relying solely on contract-level mechanisms such as pausing or freezing transfers.[7]
Design and Mechanism
Startale Group leads the technical foundation for JPYSC and provided the blockchain infrastructure and developer tooling.[1][5] The company states the token is chain-agnostic and multi-chain interoperable, built to operate across multiple blockchain ecosystems and expected to support major public networks including Ethereum and Polygon.[5] Startale has outlined a multi-chain architecture targeting deployment across several public chains via Sony-backed infrastructure; the Yahoo Finance coverage notes this plan "would further differentiate the token if it materializes."[1]
Issuance follows a mint-on-deposit model. When an institution deposits yen into the trust bank, SBI Shinsei Trust Bank manages the minting and issues an equivalent amount of JPYSC.[5] The initial institutional onboarding flow requires corporate and institutional clients to complete know-your-customer (KYC) verification through SBI VC Trade, deposit yen into the trust account, receive newly minted JPYSC in a designated wallet, and redeem tokens for fiat yen at a 1:1 ratio credited to their bank accounts.[5]
The company states JPYSC uses a multi-layered reserve strategy to maintain a strict 1:1 peg and provide 24/7 liquidity, with every transaction subject to real-time monitoring via enterprise-grade tools. It also states the token meets Financial Action Task Force (FATF) Travel Rule requirements for cross-border payments between regulated institutions and is designed for high-throughput settlement with near-instant finality.[5] Startale CEO Sota Watanabe has said the token is designed to facilitate autonomous payments between AI agents and is "ready for the AI economy."[5]
Token Design and Tokenomics
JPYSC is implemented as an ERC-20 token on the Ethereum blockchain, with its primary contract deployed at address 0x6781d5631BFe47432b089e64e3EaB3b6eDd26177.[8][3] The token is designed to maintain a 1:1 peg to the Japanese yen through fully reserved trust accounts at SBI Shinsei Trust Bank, which hold cash deposits and highly liquid Japanese Government Bonds as backing assets.[7][5]
JPYSC follows an effectively uncapped, mint-and-burn supply model in which new tokens are issued or destroyed in response to institutional deposits and redemptions at the trust bank. CoinGecko reflects this design by listing the token's maximum supply as "infinite" or uncapped rather than as a fixed upper limit.[3] For institutional clients, issuance involves completing onboarding with SBI VC Trade, depositing yen at SBI Shinsei Trust Bank, and receiving an equivalent amount of newly minted JPYSC, while redemption reverses the process by returning tokens for burning and paying out yen from the trust account.[7][5]
Founders and Partnership
JPYSC was developed through a strategic partnership between the SBI Group and Startale Group, with the participating entities including SBI Holdings, SBI Shinsei Bank, SBI Shinsei Trust Bank, and SBI VC Trade.[2] SBI Shinsei Trust Bank serves as the issuer, SBI VC Trade—part of the SBI Group—handles distribution and onboarding, and Startale Group manages technical development.[5] Startale Group is identified as the team behind Astar Network.[5]
Yoshitaka Kitao, Representative Director, Chairman, and CEO of SBI Holdings, framed the project against a broader shift toward tokenized assets. He stated that "the transition to a 'Token Economy', where all real-world assets are tokenised and tokens serve as a settlement medium, is now an irreversible societal trend," and that the group aims "to accelerate digital financial services fully integrated with traditional finance."[6] He also said that creating on-chain settlement methods is an urgent priority and that SBI is working closely with regulators to resolve remaining legal hurdles for public-chain distribution.[2]
Startale CEO Sota Watanabe described yen-pegged stablecoins as a core strategic asset for Japan and characterized the token as infrastructure for "Japanese retail users, enterprises, and global financial institutions" to transact on-chain.[1] He stated that "Startale's mission is to build the next civilisation by bringing the world onchain" and that the stablecoin "will play a central role in a fully onchain world," pointing to payments between AI agents and the distribution of tokenized assets.[6]
Use Cases
The consortium designed JPYSC primarily for enterprise-ready settlement, institutional treasury management, and high-volume corporate settlements rather than retail use.[5] SBI has said it is considering using the token for foreign-exchange trading, institutional lending, settlement of tokenized real-world assets (RWA), and other financial use cases.[4]
Once JPYSC transitions to public blockchains, the consortium aims to pursue a set of use cases spanning both wholesale and consumer finance:
- On-chain foreign exchange — establishing liquidity pools with USD-backed stablecoins to facilitate 24/7 yen–dollar settlements.[2]
- Institutional lending — creating borrowing and lending markets for yen-denominated financing.[2]
- Real-world asset settlement — serving as a settlement layer for tokenized assets including stocks, bonds, and real estate.[2]
- Cross-border remittances — lowering costs and speeding transaction times for international corporate and individual payments.[2]
- Commercial and retail payments — partnering with domestic payment networks and credit card issuers for merchant clearing and retail transactions.[2]
The company additionally frames JPYSC around emerging machine-driven commerce, listing AI-economy applications such as micro-payments for API calls, data processing, and machine-to-machine transactions, alongside the on-chain distribution of dividends or yields for real-world assets like real estate and bonds.[5] The Yahoo Finance coverage argues that a yen-denominated stablecoin with no cap and trust-law backing is a natural settlement layer for tokenized securities, real estate, and structured products in Japan, and summarized the token's positioning by stating: "A single-chain yen stablecoin is a payment rail. A multi-chain yen stablecoin with no transaction cap and trust-law reserve backing starts to look like foundational settlement infrastructure for Japan's on-chain financial market."[1]
Market Position
JPYSC entered a Japanese market where the yen stablecoin category was only just forming. In October 2025, JPYC received approval as Japan's first legally recognized yen stablecoin, but it was approved under the fund-transfer framework with the ¥1 million cap still in place.[1] The two tokens differ structurally: JPYC is issued by JPYC Inc. as a Fund Transfer–type (Type II) instrument aimed at retail users, Web3 users, and remittances, backed by Asteria and venture-capital investors, and directed at e-commerce and retail payments; JPYSC is issued by SBI Shinsei Trust Bank as a Trust-based (Type III) instrument aimed at institutions, banks, and AI agents, backed by SBI Holdings and Startale Group, and directed at tokenized assets and business-to-business settlement.[5] JPYC secured approximately ¥5–6 billion (around $33–38 million) in Series B financing by 2026, raised in multiple tranches including a round that brought cumulative funding to ¥5 billion and a subsequent ¥1 billion extension.[9][10] It is deployed on Ethereum, Polygon, Avalanche, and Kaia, and has been integrated into LINE NEXT's Unifi web3 wallet for JPYC-denominated payments within the LINE ecosystem.[11]
JPYSC also arrived ahead of a project by Japan's three megabanks—MUFG, SMBC, and Mizuho—which are jointly developing a stablecoin and announced plans in June 2026 to begin live commercial transactions during fiscal year 2026. The Yahoo Finance coverage states that JPYSC "beat the three megabanks to market with a structure the megabank project has not yet matched publicly."[1] In comparing regulatory developments abroad, the same coverage notes that Ripple's RLUSD received MiCA approval in the European Union on the strength of its regulated, reserve-backed structure, and asserts that JPYSC "clears that bar within the Japanese framework."[1]
Launch and Developments
Early coverage in February 2026 described JPYSC as targeting a Q2 2026 launch pending regulatory approval.[5][6] The token officially launched on June 24, 2026 under a restricted, phased implementation, and the first issuance had already taken place.[2][4]
During the initial phase, JPYSC is confined to the internal ecosystem of SBI VC Trade; users cannot transfer or withdraw the token to external digital wallets, and access is limited to SBI VC Trade account holders.[2] SBI has explained that this restriction reflects the fact that the asset's regulatory and tax status is still in the final stage of approval, and it will remain in place until that treatment is fully clarified.[4][1] The companies report that technical and operational integration for public blockchain deployment is complete, but a broader rollout depends on regulatory clarifications, supervisory approvals, and finalized tax treatments.[2] The consortium plans to transition JPYSC to public blockchains domestically and internationally once those legal frameworks, approvals, and tax treatments are finalized.[2]
As a near-term addition, SBI VC Trade has flagged plans to launch a JPYSC lending service to provide immediate utility to early adopters.[2][4] In a subsequent development, SBI partnered with Ondo to tokenize Japanese stocks using JPYSC.[3]
