Japan FinTech Observer #150

Welcome to the one hundred fiftieth edition of the Japan FinTech Observer.

The Japanese election completely overshadowed our monumental achievement of the 150th edition of the Japan FinTech Observer, while crossing 15,000 subscriber (on LinkedIn alone, ~20,000 across platforms) 😀 we remain humble, and truly appreciate your spending time with us, thank you 🙏

With regards to Takaichi's resounding victory, we would like to offer the unpopular opinion that it is way too early, and their are too many unknowns to pass judgement. As an example, the braintrust would have it that a Takaichi win implies weakness for the Yen, and higher interest rates. At the time of writing, the Yen has actually strengthened, and rates have held steady. So let us give it a bit more time. For further analysis, we refer to the reports published by MUFG, UBS, and Eastspring. What we do know, however, are a few things:

• Takaichi is heading a party that a mere 18 months ago chose the completely inept Ishiba over her (and Kishida prior); there is lots of reform work to do, even within the LDP, but Takaichi can now draw on ~120 Diet members who owe their representation to her, no matter the fraction alignment; that confers real power
• The budget draft for the coming fiscal year was deemed quite reasonable, although additional spending might come with the "growth plan" to be published mid-year; also, "responsible and proactive public finances", as so often proclaimed by Finance Minister Katayama, require further elaboration
• Japan has a "golden" two to three years ahead of it, during which tax receipts will run ahead of (interest) expenses, providing Takaichi with some room to maneuver; using this room to drive structural change rather than short-term measures (e.g., waiving the consumption tax on food) will be the difficult part
• Last but not least, Japanese voters are less concerned about rules for surnames and same-sex marriage than they are about having a leader who is able to stand up to Trump and Xi; or even more simplified, having a leader at all, compared to Takaichi's two predecessors

Here is what we are going to cover this week:

• Venture Capital & Private Markets: Penguin Securities pushes for expansion in Singapore and Japan; MUFG taps Ex-T. Rowe Price CIO to lead new ¥50 Billion growth fund; SSI Asset Management Company and the Development Bank of Japan launch the $90m Japan Vietnam Capital Fund; SMBC and GoAhead Ventures launch video platform to boost Japanese startups' access to capital
• Banking: quarterly results from Mizuho, MUFG, SBI Holdings, and SBI Shinsei Bank; Credit Saison launches Brazil online bank and instant digital lending in Japan
• Payments: Digital Garage enhances payment aggregation platform via AEON Pay integration; Pacific Meta, supported by KDDI and Progmat, hosted the second Japan Stablecoin Summit
• Capital Markets: Apollo says "The Yen Carry Trade Is Unwinding"; HK-based Boom Group pre-announced the launch of their Japanese brokerage; Nasdaq deepens footprint in Japan as Osaka Exchange selects Eqlipse platform for derivatives overhaul; METI reconvenes panel to clarify takeover guidelines amid shifts in legal and market landscape
• Asset Management: SBI Holdings and Startale target $19 Trillion RWA market with new Layer 1 blockchain "Strium"; Secured Finance taps UBS’s uMINT token for on-chain collateral in partnership with DigiFT; SMBC Nikko establishes dedicated DeFi unit, positioning for 2026 regulatory shift in Japan
• The Last Word: The 2025 Tokyo Financial Award innovation category winners

Venture Capital & Private Markets

• Penguin Securities pushes for expansion in Singapore and Japan: Penguin Securities has completed its Pre-Series A financing round, bringing the Singapore-based group’s cumulative funding to USD 18 million; the announcement signals a continued appetite among investors for infrastructure plays that bridge the gap between the burgeoning digital asset economy and traditional financial markets; the funding round was structured through a third-party allotment of new shares and saw participation from a slate of strategic investors, including the Mint Startup Fund II (managed by Mint Co., Ltd.), the Tokyo University of Science Investment Management Company, Thirdwave Financial, NAKASHIMATO, and UNITED, alongside several individual investors

New Funds

• MUFG taps Ex-T. Rowe Price CIO to lead new ¥50 Billion growth fund: Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group (MUFG) and its banking subsidiaries have commenced operations of Artemis Ventures, a new general partner entity designed to manage a targeted 50 billion yen ($330 million) equity fund focused on Japan’s mid-to-late-stage startups; the banking giant has appointed Archibald Ciganer—a veteran investor formerly with T. Rowe Price Japan—as Managing Partner to lead the new firm
• SSI Asset Management Company and the Development Bank of Japan launch the $90m Japan Vietnam Capital Fund: the Development Bank of Japan (DBJ) has established a joint investment framework in Vietnam with Saigon Securities (SSI), a leading private securities firm in Vietnam; the launch comes at a pivotal moment for Vietnam’s capital market, as FTSE Russell has upgraded Vietnam to Secondary Emerging Market status and the country marks the 30th anniversary of the State Securities Commission, reflecting significant progress in market standardization, integration, and the enhancement of the quality of the capital market

Other

• SMBC and GoAhead Ventures launch video platform to boost Japanese startups' access to capital: Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group (SMBC Group) is deepening its engagement with the global venture capital ecosystem, launching a new video pitch platform designed to connect Japanese seed-stage startups with institutional capital; the initiative, launched in collaboration with Silicon Valley-based GoAhead Ventures, aims to democratize access to funding by removing traditional geographical and networking barriers; according to the banking group, the platform is a Japan-adapted version of a system GoAhead currently operates in the United States, which processes over 3,000 applications annually; by digitizing the pitch process, SMBC aims to provide equitable opportunities for entrepreneurs regardless of their location within Japan

Banking

• Quarterly results from Mizuho, MUFG, SBI Holdings, and SBI Shinsei Bank
• Credit Saison launches Brazil online bank and instant digital lending in Japan: in a dual-pronged strategy to combat a saturated domestic market and capitalize on global FinTech adoption, Japanese financial services group Credit Saison has announced a major expansion of its international footprint alongside a targeted new product launch in Japan; the Tokyo-based credit card issuer confirmed this week that it plans to launch a full-scale online banking business in Brazil later this year, while simultaneously rolling out a new digital-first credit card in Japan designed to meet the immediate liquidity needs of consumers facing inflationary pressures

Payments

• Digital Garage enhances payment aggregation platform via AEON Pay integration: DG Financial Technology (DGFT), the payment processing subsidiary of Digital Garage (TSE Prime: 4819), has expanded its unified QR code payment solution, "Cloud Pay," to include support for "AEON Pay"; this integration connects DGFT’s merchant network with the extensive user base of AEON Financial Service; by enabling acceptance of AEON Pay, which reported a membership base exceeding 10.3 million as of November 2025, DGFT aims to significantly broaden the addressable market for its participating merchants
• Pacific Meta, supported by KDDI and Progmat, hosted the second Japan Stablecoin Summit on February 3, 2026; read our event reports on "Outlook for the Domestic Stablecoin Market in 2026", "Stablecoin Use Cases in Japan", "What Impact have Stablecoins had in the World?", and "What is the Biggest Barrier to Stablecoin Adoption?"
• Mori Hamada have published their latest Financial Regulation Newsletter, covering "2025 Amendment to the Payment Services Act - Cross-Border Collection Agency Services"

Economics

• Leika Kihara has published "Rhetoric Analysis: demystifying Bank of Japan Governor Haruhiko Kuroda’s monetary experiment"
• Markus Heckel et al have published "The effectiveness of monetary policy: Evidence from market operation-based monetary policy indices"

Capital Markets

• Apollo says "The Yen Carry Trade Is Unwinding": bank balance sheet data show that yen lending to offshore financial centers and non-bank borrowers remains elevated, suggesting a large stock of yen-funded positions; by contrast, speculative futures positioning has swung sharply, highlighting that carry trades can unwind quickly even as the broader yen-funded footprint remains in place
• HK-based Boom Group pre-announced the launch of their Japanese brokerage: previously part of Monex Group, Monex divested its entire holding in Boom Securities in June 2024 "in order to concentrate and select management resources"
• Nasdaq deepens footprint in Japan as Osaka Exchange selects Eqlipse platform for derivatives overhaul: the Osaka Exchange (OSE)—a subsidiary of the Japan Exchange Group—has selected Nasdaq (NDAQ) to provide the technology backbone for its next-generation derivatives platform; under the agreement, OSE will deploy Nasdaq’s Eqlipse Trading and Market Surveillance platforms; the deal represents a significant modernization effort for the Japanese exchange, designed to improve latency performance and scalability while integrating artificial intelligence to monitor market integrity
• METI reconvenes panel to clarify takeover guidelines amid shifts in legal and market landscape: Japan’s Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) is reconvening the Fair Acquisition Study Group, a move aimed at revisiting the country’s corporate takeover framework; the decision comes in response to growing concerns regarding market interpretation of existing rules and follows significant statutory changes to Japan’s financial laws; the ministry originally formulated the "Guidelines for Corporate Takeovers" in August 2023 to foster a fairer M&A environment and enhance corporate value; however, METI officials acknowledged that despite increasing public attention, there is apprehension among stakeholders that the "purpose of the Guidelines may not be sufficiently understood"; the reconvened group aims to bridge this communication gap and ensure the intent of the framework is properly disseminated across the market

Digital Assets

• SBI Holdings and Startale target $19 Trillion RWA market with new Layer 1 blockchain "Strium": Japanese financial services giant SBI Holdings and Web3 infrastructure firm Startale Group have formally unveiled "Strium," a joint venture aimed at establishing a dominant blockchain infrastructure for the Asian capital markets; the project represents the first major deliverable from the strategic partnership the two entities formed in August 2025; Strium is being positioned as an institution-grade Layer 1 blockchain specifically architected for the trading and settlement of tokenized securities and Real-World Assets (RWAs)
• Secured Finance taps UBS’s uMINT token for on-chain collateral in partnership with DigiFT: Secured Finance AG, the Japanese-founded, Swiss-based developer of the Secured Finance DeFi protocol, has integrated tokenized real-world assets (RWAs) into its lending platform, marking a significant step in bridging traditional capital markets with decentralized finance; under the new partnership with DigiFT, a regulated exchange for real-world assets, users can now pledge "uMINT"—UBS Asset Management’s tokenized money market fund—as eligible collateral; this integration allows investors to unlock on-chain liquidity in stablecoins such as USDC and JPYC while maintaining exposure to high-quality, short-duration traditional assets
• SMBC Nikko establishes dedicated DeFi unit, positioning for 2026 regulatory shift in Japan: SMBC Nikko Securities has established a "DeFi Technology Department" to capitalize on Japan’s evolving digital asset landscape; the new division is tasked with spearheading the brokerage’s expansion into decentralized finance (DeFi) and crypto asset services, anticipating major legislative overhauls expected later this year; the creation of the department comes as the Japanese Diet prepares to deliberate revisions to the Financial Instruments and Exchange Act; these proposed changes are expected to reclassify crypto assets as a new category of securities, effectively greenlighting banking group subsidiaries to hold, issue, and trade digital assets for investment purposes; additionally, outlined tax reforms now expected to come into effect in 2028—specifically a shift toward separate taxation for certain crypto assets—are projected to significantly improve the liquidity and attractiveness of the domestic market

The Last Word: The 2025 Tokyo Financial Award innovation category winners

The 2025 Tokyo Financial Award winners—Impact Circle, Clarity AI, Japan Asset Management Platform Group, Myna Wallet, EduCare, and Henry could provide functional components of a broader structural reorganization of the Japanese financial landscape. As the Tokyo Metropolitan Government intensifies its "Global Financial City: Tokyo" initiative, these six innovators provide a comprehensive roadmap for addressing Japan’s most pressing structural challenges: an aging demographic, chronic labor shortages in critical sectors, the activation of a $14 trillion household asset pool, and the digitalization of national identity.

The 2025 cohort reflects a sophisticated integration of artificial intelligence, blockchain-based sovereign identity, and novel credit modeling designed to bridge the gap between financial capital and social utility. By examining their founding histories, venture capital trajectories, and market positioning, it becomes clear that the Tokyo Financial Award has the potential to signal which technologies will define the next decade of Japanese finance.

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