[Important] Sumitomo Mitsui FG plans to invest 5% in the SBI and Startale joint venture to advance the Japanese yen stablecoin JPYSC.

October 30 - Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group will invest approximately 5% in SBI Startale Marketing, a joint venture between SBI Holdings and Startale Group, with the investment expected to be completed soon. SMFG and SBI are entering into a capital and business alliance, aiming to leverage SMFG's customer base to develop financial services using the Japanese yen stablecoin JPYSC for asset management and payment scenarios. The joint venture is responsible for planning JPYSC applications and developing blockchain financial products, and SMFG's participation will further expand circulation and use cases.

JPYSC is issued by SBI Shinsei Trust Bank and distributed by SBI VC Trade. It is a trust-type Japanese yen stablecoin that began offering on June 24, with an outstanding issuance balance of approximately ¥20.8 billion as of October 30. Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation has approximately 24 million individual customers and may in the future consider using JPYSC for blockchain financial product settlement and instant settlement. Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation is also advancing joint stablecoin issuance with Mitsubishi UFJ, Mizuho and others, and announced on October 16 that proof-of-concept experiments had confirmed the feasibility of the joint issuance model.