Japan FinTech Observer | Tontines | ex-Goldman & Barclays Tech MD
banking
SBI Sumishin Net Bank will become a consolidated subsidiary of NTT DOCOMO as of October 1st, 2025. Following the consolidation, starting on the same date, the service will be rebranded as “d NEOBANK”, which is representing the wide range of services directly provided by SSNB to both individual and corporate
venture capital
FormX has completed a seed round funding of 130 million yen in total. The lead investor is Genesia Ventures, with additional participation from Chiba Dojo Fund and multiple CFO angel investors. This funding will accelerate the development of its "Disclosure Platform" and strengthen its organizational foundation. About FormX
debt financing
VinFast has secured a USD 100 million Green Loan facility from MUFG Bank, to be used for VinFast's development and international expansion strategy. The loan marks the beginning of a long-term relationship between the parties, demonstrative of the commitment of both VinFast and MUFG to advance the green
venture capital
Amid the rise of “agent commerce,” GMO Venture Partners have invested in Crossmint alongside Circle and other investors. Crossmint provides infrastructure that enables seamless integration of payments and remittances across both fiat currencies and stablecoins. Crossmint offers a unified API and wallet SDK that bridges fiat and stablecoins, allowing enterprises
tokenization
SBI Digital Markets has successfully launched its first tranche of luxury wine structured notes in Korea and Thailand, with an exclusive selection of fine wines acquired directly from prestigious chateaus in Bordeaux and Burgundy, France, and Piedmont, Italy. The notes were fully subscribed in Korea by Kyobo Life Insurance and
quantum computing
SC Ventures by Standard Chartered Bank, which builds and invests in breakthrough ventures in and beyond banking, together with Fujitsu, a leading developer of quantum software and hardware, are set to join forces to incubate Project Quanta. The project will integrate multiple software and hardware technologies to provide clients a
payments
Digital Garage has launched global services for "AppPay," Japan's No. 1 off-app billing platform that the company has been providing since 2023. This service provides Merchant of Record (MoR) functionality, where Digital Garage acts as the legal sales entity on behalf of game and app operators
Weekly
Welcome to the one hundred thirtieth edition of the Japan FinTech Observer. Last week, the World Athletic Championships took place in Tokyo, putting the Olympic Stadium finally to the grand use it was designed for (including an audience!). Whether inspired by the athletic performances or not, the Bank of Japan
asset management
AlpacaTech, a subsidiary of FOLIO Holdings, which provides innovative financial solutions within the SBI Group, has commenced a partnership for joint research and development with Vertex Investment Solutions, a 100% subsidiary of Dai-ichi Life Holdings with strengths in quantitative investment management. AlpacaTech, which possesses high expertise in AI technology research
blockchain
AltX Research has announced that Densan System has joined as a Vision Partner for “Japan Smart Chain (JSC),” a Japan-sovereign Layer 1 blockchain developed by AltX Research. JSC is the foundational, Japan-sovereign blockchain platform, featuring full compatibility with Ethereum and validated entirely by domestic industry leaders. It is engineered as
payments
The Tokyo Stock Exchange has approved the initial listing of Infcurion's shares on the Growth Market, with the listing date scheduled for Friday, October 24, 2025. Infcurion's listing application provides a detailed look into the company that positions itself not as a direct financial service provider,
stablecoin
The Kaia DLT Foundation ("Kaia") and LINE NEXT have announced "Project Unify", a Web3 super app based on stablecoins. This app will be provided as a standalone application on the Kaia platform, as well as a Mini DApp within LINE NEXT's messenger service. The