Circle Deepens Japan Commitment as SBI Group Prepares USDC Launch

Circle Internet Financial, the Boston-headquartered U.S. firm behind the USDC stablecoin, is deepening its ties to Japan’s burgeoning digital assets market.

Japanese SBI VC Trade, a crypto exchange operating as a subsidiary of SBI Holdings, a major internet-based financial conglomerate in the country, is expected to play a key role in Circle’s commitments in Japan.

After receiving regulatory approval earlier this month, SBI VC Trade now plans to leverage USDC in Japan, marking the first token of its kind approved under Japan’s stablecoin regulatory framework.

Circle has established a Japanese entity, Circle Japan KK, to support the stablecoin’s local operations. SBI VC Trade is set to launch USDC trading on March 26, 2025, the pair announced Monday. 

Domestic exchanges Binance Japan, Bitbank, and BitFlyer also plan to list and distribute USDC in the near future, per the statement.

Circle co-founder and CEO Jeremy Allaire said on X the development would unlock “tremendous opportunities” for Japan’s digital assets markets, powering payments, cross-border finance, commerce, and FX, among other use cases for USDC.

The approval builds on a partnership between Circle and SBI Holdings that began in 2023, combining USDC distribution with banking and Web3 technology for the Japanese market.

USDC is fully reserved and backed 100% by cash and cash-equivalent assets, with reserves held at regulated financial institutions that publish third-party monthly attestations, according to documentation from Circle.

It also goes beyond just introducing a new crypto product in the country, Jay Jo, a senior research analyst at Tiger Research, told Decrypt.

Once launched, besides the usual listing and trading on exchanges, Japanese companies could “offer custody services and develop various stablecoin-based businesses,” Jo explained.

While the country “still prohibits trust-based yen stablecoins,” future regulatory developments could help shape where its crypto and digital asset sector could go, Jo said.

However, the continued depreciation of the Japanese yen could create market dynamics, given the current tensions between it and the U.S. dollar.

If the yen shows sustained weakness, “Japanese investors might shift to USDC” as a hedge and potentially “increase selling pressure on JPY,” Jo added.

“Easier access to dollar-denominated assets” could lead to accelerated outflows from traditional yen investments, Jo said. This could happen “especially if interest rate differentials remain wide.”

Edited by Sebastian Sinclair