GoCheckMyCrypto.comSBI Group consolidates Asia's digital asset infrastructure, targeting yen settlement dominance
Japan's SBI Holdings acquired a majority stake in Singapore-based crypto platform Coinhako and announced partnerships with Ondo Finance and the Solana Foundation to build a cross-border digital asset corridor. SBI is integrating trading infrastructure, tokenization services and its yen stablecoin (JPYSC) across Asia. The strategy targets on-chain yen settlement as a long-term infrastructure position, though JPYSC currently remains restricted to internal SBI platforms.
SBI Holdings, Japan's largest online securities firm, has moved to consolidate digital asset infrastructure across Asia through a series of partnerships and acquisitions announced Thursday, signaling a long-term bet on blockchain-based settlement for Asian markets.
The holdings company acquired a majority stake in Coinhako, a Singapore-based crypto platform licensed as a Major Payment Institution by the Monetary Authority of Singapore. SBI Holdings, which oversees $308 billion in assets under custody and serves more than 14 million users, simultaneously announced partnerships with Ondo Finance, a platform for tokenized real-world assets, and the Solana Foundation. According to CoinDesk, SBI will team up with Ondo to tokenize Japanese equities and other assets using JPYSC, SBI's yen stablecoin, for settlement. Separately, the Solana Foundation will take an equity stake in SBI R3 Japan, which will be renamed SBI Solana Global and will focus on issuing stablecoins and tokenizing real-world assets including corporate bonds and real estate.
Yoshitaka Kitao, CEO of SBI Holdings, stated according to CoinDesk: "The SBI Group seeks to establish a global corridor for digital assets by connecting exchanges worldwide."
The moves reflect a consolidation strategy across the entire digital asset value chain. SBI previously acquired crypto exchange Bitpoint in 2022 and agreed in June to purchase Tokyo-based exchange Bitbank for around $289 million, with closure expected in October pending regulatory approval. SBI also led a $76 million Series C funding round for institutional exchange EDX Markets and a $25 million Series C round for crypto risk manager Gauntlet, according to CoinDesk.
Joseph Goh, director and head of Asia Pacific at Areta, told CoinDesk: "SBI is the first financial group in Asia to go after the entire digital asset value chain at once, from issuance and settlement through trading infrastructure, asset management and retail distribution, and to do it across the region rather than only at home. The real prize is the yen side of on-chain settlement, one of the most strategic positions in Asian finance over the coming decade, and that is exactly what SBI is building toward."
However, constraints on JPYSC adoption limit immediate utility. According to CoinDesk, the stablecoin does not yet support withdrawals to external wallets and its use is currently restricted to accounts within SBI VC Trade, with no support for remittances or settlements via public blockchains. This restricts JPYSC to intra-SBI flows rather than genuine cross-border digital asset corridors across Asia.
SBI's investment thesis centers on long-term infrastructure positioning. Sota Watanabe, CEO of Startale Group, which works with SBI Holdings on JPYSC, told CoinDesk: "SBI Holdings' continued commitment to digital assets likely signals confidence in the future architecture of global finance." According to CoinDesk, SBI said its strategy is based on long-term infrastructure development rather than short-term crypto market cycles.
Several questions remain about execution and regulatory risk. When will JPYSC support external wallet withdrawals and public blockchain settlements? What timeline does SBI target for full deployment of the regional corridor? Will regulatory environments across multiple Asian jurisdictions remain supportive of this infrastructure play, or will policy divergence fragment SBI's regional strategy?
SBI Holdings acquired majority control of Coinhako, the MAS-licensed Singapore exchange, and partnered with Ondo Finance and the Solana Foundation to establish regional digital asset infrastructure centered on yen-based on-chain settlement.
Watch for JPYSC's expansion beyond SBI's internal network and the Bitbank acquisition's regulatory approval in October. SBI's entire regional strategy depends on yen-based on-chain settlement gaining traction and regulatory acceptance across Asia. If major Asian regulators move to restrict stablecoin issuance or token settlement, SBI's infrastructure positions become constraints rather than assets.
And that's the way it is.
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