Japanese visitors could soon pay with yen stablecoins in South Korea under Shinhan-SBI pact

Source: coindesk2026/10/21 20:10

Analysis

The Shinhan Card-SBI arrangement is a feasibility study rather than a product launch, so its near-term significance lies in testing whether a yen-denominated token can plug into existing card rails for inbound tourism and trade settlement between two of Asia's largest stablecoin-adjacent markets. The transmission path runs through Shinhan's roughly 20 million cardholders and SBI's existing JPYSC distribution, though the firms have not confirmed JPYSC will be used, and that token remains confined to SBI VC Trade accounts with no external wallet transfers. Watch three things: whether a specific token and trial timeline are named, whether Japanese and Korean regulators permit cross-border wallet movement, and whether the Visa-linked workstream converges with this pilot. The inclusion of AML monitoring and suspicious-transaction detection signals that compliance design, not technology, is the binding constraint.

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Japanese visitors may be able to pay with yen stablecoins in South Korea under Shinhan-SBI pact

The collaboration will explore card-linked merchant payments for Japanese visitors in South Korea and peer-to-peer wallet transfers among broader cross-border trade remittances.

While at an early stage without a set commercial timeline, the initiative builds on Shinhan's broader digital asset push with Visa. (Thriday/Unsplash)

Summary

South Korea’s Shinhan and Japan's SBI are testing yen-backed stablecoin payments for cross-border transactions and trade settlement.

The collaboration will explore card-linked merchant payments for Japanese visitors in South Korea and peer-to-peer wallet transfers.

While at an early stage without a set commercial timeline, the initiative builds on Shinhan's broader digital asset push with Visa.

Japanese visitors to South Korea might one day be able to transact using yen stablecoins linked to payment cards following experiments conducted by South Korean card issuer Shinhan Card and subsidiaries of the Tokyo-based financial services company SBI Holdings.

Shinhan Card, a unit of Shinhan Financial, is working with cryptocurrency exchange SBI VC Trade and trade finance blockchain company SBI XDC Network APAC to explore yen-backed stablecoin payments between the two countries, SBI Holdings said.

The companies will also study wallet-to-wallet transfers and the use of stablecoins to settle cross-border trade payments. Their work will include systems to detect suspicious transactions and meet anti-money laundering rules.

The process remains at an early stage. The firms have not named the stablecoin they plan to test or set a timeline for trials, let alone a commercial launch.

SBI already distributes JPYSC, a yen-backed stablecoin issued by SBI Shinsei Trust Bank and introduced with Startale Group in June. The token had about 20.1 billion yen ($127 million) in circulation as of Sept. 7, according to SBI VC Trade.

JPYSC is limited to SBI VC Trade accounts and cannot yet be moved to external wallets. Its circulation on public blockchains also depends on legal and tax clarity and regulatory approval. The companies have not said whether JPYSC will form part of the test program.

Shinhan Card, which serves around 20 million cardholders, said it would link the project to Shinhan Financial’s broader digital-asset push, which includes an August agreement with Visa to explore stablecoin issuance, transfers and card settlement.

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Why it matters:

Diversified RWA stablecoins sustain 5-7% yield from real credit as crypto funding compresses to ~4%. GENIUS pushes yield off-chain; TAM grows to $4B in 3 years.

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