The SBI Holdings JPYSC lending service is now open for applications, offering a 3% annualised yield on Japan’s first trust bank-backed yen stablecoin through SBI VC Trade, the group’s regulated crypto exchange. Applications opened on 16 July; the 12-week lending campaign itself begins 23 July.
Inside the JPYSC Lending Service Structure
The product is structured as a crypto-asset loan, not a deposit. SBI VC Trade borrows users’ JPYSC holdings, deploys them during the contract period, then returns the principal plus a lending fee at maturity. According to Chain.Buzz, tokens placed into the service cannot be sold, transferred, or withdrawn before the term ends.
The term is 12 weeks, not a calendar quarter. At a 3% annualised rate over 12 weeks, the gross return works out to approximately 0.69%, before tax. Whether that moves the needle depends on what you’re comparing it to: SBI VC Trade cited ordinary yen bank deposit rates of 0.325% to 1% annually as the relevant benchmark, per Cointelegraph.
The 3% rate is the inaugural campaign rate. SBI VC Trade has indicated its expected range for regular ongoing JPYSC lending offers is 1% to 3% annually, so this first campaign is priced at the top of that band. Availability is subject to SBI VC Trade’s screening process and per-campaign capacity limits.
Counterparty Risk the Fine Print Flags Clearly
Two risk disclosures from SBI VC Trade’s own press release, as reported by Cointelegraph, deserve attention. First, JPYSC deposited into the lending programme falls outside statutory asset segregation requirements. If SBI VC Trade were to go bankrupt, users could lose some or all of their tokens. Second, the product carries no deposit insurance coverage.
That combination (illiquid for 12 weeks, unsegregated, uninsured) is standard for crypto lending products but sits in a different risk category from the stablecoin’s underlying 1:1 yen backing. The stablecoin itself is issued under Japan’s Type III Electronic Payment Instrument classification by SBI Shinsei Trust Bank, which, as Fintech Observer has detailed, exempts JPYSC from the 1 million yen remittance and accumulation caps that constrain earlier funds-transfer-type stablecoins. Up to 50% of its reserves can be held in government bonds.
The stablecoin went live on 24 June, roughly seven weeks after its February announcement by SBI Holdings and Startale Group. Adding a yield product this quickly signals SBI is pushing to build liquidity and user adoption around JPYSC before competitors enter the space.
SBI’s Broader Digital Asset Stack Is Moving Fast
The JPYSC lending service is one layer of a broader infrastructure build-out. On 16 July, SBI Holdings announced a strategic partnership with Ondo Finance, a US-based real-world asset (RWA) tokenisation firm, to tokenise Japanese domestic assets including equities for overseas investors, while bringing Ondo’s tokenised overseas products into Japan. JPYSC is being explored for settlement and collateral within that collaboration, according to BigGo Finance.
Separately, SBI Holdings has announced a strategic alliance with the Switzerland-based Solana Foundation to develop an on-chain financial market in Japan. As part of that deal, SBI R3 Japan will be rebranded as SBI Solana Global, per Gadgets360.
Earlier in July, SBI also invested $125 million as the sole backer of Gauntlet’s Series C, put a further $76 million into institutional crypto marketplace EDX Markets, and completed the acquisition of Japanese crypto exchange Bitbank for nearly $289 million. The Ondo and Solana moves suggest SBI is positioning JPYSC as settlement infrastructure across RWA tokenisation and on-chain capital markets, not just a payments rail.
Japan’s broader stablecoin landscape is filling in around it. MUFG, SMBC, and Mizuho plan to begin live commercial transactions using a jointly issued stablecoin during fiscal year 2026. Convenience store operator Lawson has begun a trial accepting payments in JPYC, Japan’s first legally approved yen-backed stablecoin. If the JPYSC lending service pulls meaningful deposit volume, the next question is whether SBI extends the product into DeFi collateral use cases, or keeps it entirely within its regulated exchange perimeter.
