SBI, DigiFT and Startale Complete JPYSC Stablecoin PoC to Tokenize $1.3B Fund

SBI Group, DigiFT and Startale Group said they have completed a joint proof of concept demonstrating an end-to-end lifecycle for tokenized securities using JPYSC, a trust-based Japanese yen stablecoin. In two separate Ethereum testnet trials, the partners used JPYSC to enable near-instant settlement for tokenized fund subscriptions and to automate on-chain dividend distributions. The effort targets a long-standing friction point in tokenized real-world assets: while token issuance has accelerated, cash settlement and income payments often still depend on slower legacy banking rails. As part of the initiative, SBI Group and DigiFT are working to tokenize the SBI Japan High Dividend Equity Fund, managed by SBI Asset Management. The strategy has roughly $1.3 billion (¥200 billion) in assets under management and is positioned to broaden access to Japanese equities for global institutional investors. The first demonstration showed how a regulated stablecoin settlement layer could bypass multi-day settlement cycles, reducing counterparty risk and improving capital efficiency. The second used smart contracts to calculate and distribute dividends directly to eligible token holders' wallets once the distribution registry was finalized. "While the asset management industry has made significant progress in reducing the costs of ETFs and mutual funds, there remains considerable room for improvement in the market infrastructure supporting trading, settlement, and distribution," said Tomoya Asakura, CEO of SBI Global Asset Management, adding that the technology could streamline operations, improve investor experience and enhance the competitiveness of Japan's capital markets. Startale Group CEO Sota Watanabe said the next phase of capital markets goes beyond tokenization itself, pointing to regulated stablecoins such as JPYSC as a way to enable both instant settlement and programmable dividend distribution. DigiFT founder and CEO Henry Zhang highlighted interoperability as key to scaling institutional tokenization, saying the PoC shows how regulated stablecoins can integrate directly into the operating model for manager-led tokenized funds. Next, the three firms plan to explore connecting tokenized Japanese equities with institutional DeFi platforms. Potential collaborations with Morpho and Gauntlet are under consideration to test use cases such as collateralized lending and programmable, on-chain asset management within regulated frameworks.