SBI puts a 3% yield on Japan's yen stablecoin

SBI Group is rolling out a lending service on its yen stablecoin $JPYSC that offers users a 3% annual yield, the latest sign that Japan's regulated digital asset market is moving well beyond simple payments.

How the product works

SBI will open applications on July 16, offering a 12-week fixed-term product through SBI VC Trade, the group's crypto trading platform. Under the program, users lend $JPYSC to SBI VC Trade for the fixed period and receive the same amount of stablecoins back at maturity, along with a lending fee.

The 3% annual rate stands out sharply against conventional yen deposit rates, but investors should weigh the small print carefully. At the advertised rate, the gross return over the 12-week term works out to about 0.69% before tax. The company said the product pays more than the 0.325% to 1% annual rate SBI cited for ordinary yen deposits, but it is not a bank deposit, is not covered by deposit insurance, and generally cannot be canceled early. $JPYSC lent to SBI VC Trade will also fall outside statutory asset segregation requirements, meaning customers could lose some or all of their tokens if the company goes bankrupt, according to the release.

The initiative comes less than a month after SBI launched $JPYSC, the country's first trust bank-backed yen stablecoin. SBI said future offerings are expected to provide annual yields ranging between 1% and 3%, depending on market conditions.

A broader race for Japan's stablecoin market

SBI Group launched $JPYSC as Japan's first trust bank-backed yen stablecoin and the first of its kind to be classified as an electronic payment instrument under the Payment Services Act. Unlike previously launched fund-transfer-type stablecoins, $JPYSC is not subject to the 1 million yen transaction and balance limitations applicable to such instruments.

$JPYSC is a key component of SBI Group's broader strategy to expand into onchain finance. Last week, SBI became the sole investor in Gauntlet's $125 million Series C funding round. Institutional crypto platform EDX Markets also closed a $76 million Series C financing last week, with SBI as the sole investor. In June, it acquired Japanese crypto exchange Bitbank for nearly $289 million.

SBI is not alone in pushing into this space. Japan's three megabanks, MUFG, SMBC, and Mizuho, announced plans last month to begin live commercial transactions of a jointly issued stablecoin during fiscal year 2026. The lending service adds yield mechanics to a token that was initially framed as a settlement instrument, giving $JPYSC a new use case just weeks after its launch, with regulated stablecoins in Japan evolving from payments into yield-bearing instruments.

Sources
Japan's SBI Group to launch JPYSC stablecoin lending service this month – The Block
SBI to Debut Stablecoin Lending Service with 3% Yield in Japan – Cointelegraph
SBI Group launches Japan's first trust bank-backed stablecoin JPYSC – The Block