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SMBC Group and SBI Reach a Capital and Business Alliance on Stablecoin Services, Plan to Invest About 5% in the Joint Venture

On October 30, SBI Holdings and Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group (SMBC Group) issued a joint announcement, saying they had signed a capital and business alliance agreement to develop new financial services using stablecoins and other tools. The two sides agreed that SMBC Group would make an approximately 5% capital investment in SBI Startale Marketing Co., Ltd.

SBI Startale Marketing is a joint venture between the SBI Group and Startale Group, and is responsible for promoting JPYSC adoption, planning use cases, and conducting related research and proof-of-concept testing. JPYSC is a trust-type yen stablecoin issued by SBI Shinsei Trust Bank and distributed by SBI VC Trade, and it is scheduled to be offered through SBI VC Trade starting in 2026. The alliance aims for the two sides to jointly explore the potential uses of stablecoins such as JPYSC, study use cases, and carry out proof-of-concept testing, in order to create future financial services.

The announcement said the two sides will cooperate, while complying with relevant laws and regulations, by combining their respective expertise in technology and finance. The announcement did not specify the completion time for the investment or the details of subsequent use cases.

Original sources:

  1. Title: About a capital and business alliance regarding joint consideration of new financial services utilizing stablecoins, etc. Publisher: SBI Holdings, Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group, Inc. Publication date: 2026-10-30 URL: https://www.smbc.co.jp/news/pdf/j20261030_01.pdf Source type: official joint announcement (PDF) Verification status: the full text was actually read for this report and verified on 2026-10-30 Supported content: signing of the capital and business alliance agreement, agreement on SMBC Group's approximately 5% capital participation in SBI Startale Marketing, the positioning of the joint venture, JPYSC issuance and circulation arrangements, the direction of cooperation, and other core facts

  2. Title: Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group to Take 5% Stake in SBI-Linked Stablecoin Joint Venture... Publisher: BigGo Finance Publication date: 2026-10-30 URL: https://finance.biggo.com/news/0507cf69-b5d6-4264-91fe-82edd2087ff0 Source type: media report Verification status: the full text was actually read for this report and verified on 2026-10-30 Supported content: a consolidated summary of the official announcement and Nikkei reporting, including background such as the customer base and issuance balance (some details sourced from Nikkei, not independently verified)

ABAB AI Insight

SMBC Group's approximately 5% investment in the SBI and Startale joint venture is a small-scale capital participation. Its core purpose is to use the capital and business alliance to leverage SMBC Bank's customer base of about 24 million individual customers to expand JPYSC circulation and use cases. SBI Startale Marketing is positioned to plan JPYSC applications and develop blockchain-based financial products, rather than serving as the issuer itself; issuance remains with SBI Shinsei Trust Bank, and circulation is handled by SBI VC Trade.

JPYSC, as a trust-type yen stablecoin, has been available since June 24, 2026, and as of October 30 its issuance balance was about 20.8 billion yen. SMBC Bank is also participating in a proof-of-concept for joint stablecoin issuance with Mitsubishi UFJ and Mizuho, and on October 16 it announced that the feasibility of the joint issuance model had been confirmed. This separate cooperation with SBI gives SMBC an additional option in JPYSC, which already has a circulation record, alongside its own joint-issuance path.

The two sides already had a foundation for cooperation in retail banking: they signed a comprehensive capital and business alliance in 2022, and SMFG once held about 10% of SBI HD shares; in 2025 they jointly established an entity related to asset management consulting. This alliance expands the scope of cooperation into stablecoin applications, but the announcement emphasizes investigation, research, and proof-of-concept testing rather than a confirmed large-scale product launch. Points to watch are the actual progress of the 5% investment, the results of subsequent specific use cases such as asset management or payment settlement, and the parallel progress of the three major banks' joint issuance project.

ABAB News · Law of Cognition

  1. An approximately 5% capital participation exchanges customer access and scenario collaboration, not control or issuance rights.

  2. A stablecoin with an existing circulation record and a bank's own issuance path can coexist in parallel and do not automatically replace each other.

  3. A capital and business alliance points to future service development and does not mean current realized transaction volume or user migration.