SBI to Debut Stablecoin Lending Service with 3% Yield in Japan

SBI VC Trade, a subsidiary of Japanese financial giant SBI Holdings, will begin accepting applications on Thursday for a yen-denominated stablecoin lending service. The product offers an initial annualized yield of 3% on JPYSC tokens lent for a 12-week term, the company announced Monday.

The service allows customers to lend JPYSC to SBI VC Trade and receive the tokens back with a lending fee at maturity. At the advertised rate, the gross return over the 12-week period would be approximately 0.69% before tax. SBI noted that this yield exceeds the 0.325% to 1% annual rate offered on ordinary yen deposits.

However, the product is not a bank deposit and is not covered by Japan’s deposit insurance. It generally cannot be canceled early, and JPYSC lent to SBI VC Trade falls outside statutory asset segregation requirements. According to the press release, customers could lose some or all of their tokens if the company goes bankrupt.

The launch gives JPYSC a new use case just weeks after SBI introduced the trust-structured yen stablecoin on June 24. SBI VC Trade previously launched a similar stablecoin lending service for Circle’s USDC dollar stablecoin in March. SBI claimed this is the first service allowing Japanese customers to lend yen-denominated stablecoins for passive yield.

Separately, SBI Holdings announced a strategic partnership with the Solana Foundation on Monday. The partnership aims to build a Japanese onchain financial market. The Solana Foundation will join SBI R3 Japan, which will be renamed SBI Solana Global and issue a new growth strategy focused on the yen-backed stablecoin. The initiative seeks to position Japan as a leading hub for onchain finance, expanding stablecoin and tokenized real-world asset usage across Asia, and building infrastructure for institutional onchain financial services, cross-border payments, and AI agent payments.

The stablecoin lending service follows positive regulatory signals for Japanese Web3 startups. Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi has pledged stronger government support for crypto and Web3 startups, including increased funding and eased regulatory requirements. In April 2026, Japan amended the Financial Instruments and Exchange Act to classify crypto assets as financial instruments, moving them into the same regulatory category as securities.