SBI Holdings, the Japanese financial conglomerate, and Startale Group, a provider of Web3 infrastructure solutions, have formed a stablecoin partnership centered on Open Standard, an international initiative that backs the US dollar-pegged stablecoin OUSD. According to an announcement from SBI Holdings, the collaboration will conduct tests on the interoperability of OUSD and JPYSC, a yen-pegged stablecoin from SBI Shinsei Trust Bank. The stated goal is to enable faster and more efficient cross-border settlement between Japan and the United States through blockchain infrastructure.

Testing Cross-Border Settlement

The partnership is intended to test the use of blockchain technology to facilitate cross-border payments from Japan to the US. The idea is to determine whether cryptocurrencies can be used to create an effective settlement system between the Japanese yen and the US dollar—a currency pairing that ranks among the most heavily traded in traditional foreign exchange markets.

Under the plan, SBI Holdings and Startale Group will embark on a proof of concept (PoC) examining how the two stablecoins might interact. The PoC will look into the concept of interoperability, the property that allows different blockchain-based tokens and systems to communicate and transact with one another.

A traditional cross-border transaction involves more than one bank, along with other constraints such as operational hours. In the legacy system, cross-border transfers generally route through chains of correspondent banks, and settlement can take one or more business days to complete. The partnership will consider whether blockchain-based settlement can overcome such issues and allow transactions to be executed outside banking hours. It is important to note that no launch date has been set for the services and no commercial payments system has yet been launched.

How JPYSC and OUSD Could Support Digital Payments

JPYSC is a Japanese yen-denominated stablecoin backed by SBI Shinsei Trust Bank for possible deployment in digital payments and asset tokenization. OUSD, by contrast, is a US dollar-backed stablecoin connected with Open Standard's payment system. The partnership will explore the possibility of collaboration between the two currencies in order to provide cross-border payments and asset settlements.

Stablecoins are designed in such a way that their price remains stable relative to the value of the reference currency, a characteristic that makes them beneficial for payment systems. Nevertheless, the success of the project will depend on aspects such as technical compatibility, liquidity, regulatory needs, and costs.

Open Standard Expands Its Financial Network

Open Standard strives to establish a unified settlement network for digital payments that includes more than 200 banks and fintech companies. Its ambition is to create a universal settlement network for the digital economy, and major players such as Coinbase, Visa, Mastercard, and BlackRock are among the entities on the network.

The organization highlights the advantages of minting at no cost and revenue sharing as levers to increase OUSD usage. The linkage of OUSD to the yen-based stablecoin would facilitate its use in Japan. In the case of SBI, the stablecoin initiative complements its initiatives involving USDC and RLUSD.

US GENIUS Act Supports Institutional Stablecoin Development

The SBI stablecoin partnership comes at a time when authorities and financial institutions are working to formulate guidelines and services for stablecoins. In the United States, the GENIUS Act set up a federal regulatory framework for stablecoins used in payment, including issuer and reserve-related provisions. The Act has informed broader institutional discussions on the role of regulated digital dollars in payment and settlement. Japan has moved in parallel: revisions to its Payment Services Act that took effect in 2023 established a legal framework for fiat-backed stablecoins, with issuance limited to licensed entities such as banks and trust companies—the category that includes SBI Shinsei Trust Bank as the backer of JPYSC.

For banks and fintech companies, the use of stablecoins would allow for easier flow of international transfers, business transactions, and settlement of tokenized assets. The stablecoin alliance between SBI and OUSD will determine whether JPYSC and OUSD can cooperate via the common settlement platform. The commercialization of the stablecoins should conform to the regulatory environment in both Japan and the US.

SBI's Previous JPYSC Projects Add Context

The project builds on previous JPYSC-related work. In July 2026, SBI Global Asset Management, DigiFT, and Startale conducted a proof of concept on using blockchain to settle tokenized Japanese equity mutual funds. As opposed to previous projects, the current initiative is different in that it involves linking yen and US dollar stablecoins.

Key Implementation Questions Remain

The technical aspects, security, liquidity, and regulations needed to link JPYSC to OUSD will be evaluated by SBI and Startale. Even if the process is successful, fast settlement and lower costs cannot be guaranteed.

The objective of the SBI stablecoin partnership is to link Japan's yen-backed stablecoin with global payment systems. However, success is not guaranteed through testing and regulation alone, and much will rest on the results of the interoperability trials.