social lending
The Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) has concluded an investment agreement with AGL Holding (Agrolend), a Brazilian digital bank financing the agricultural sector in the country. This project aims to contribute to improving the financial access and agricultural operations of small and medium-sized farmers in Brazil, while increasing the productivity
venture capital
Incubate Fund has established "IF Growth," a fund specialized in growth capital, and completed its first close. The final fund size is planned to be 30 billion yen. In parallel, the fund specialized in seed stage investments has also completed its final close at a total of 20.
carbon credit
Ginco has suplied blockchain technology to e-dash Corporation, which has been commissioned by the Tokyo Metropolitan Government to develop and operate the "Carbon Credit Market of Tokyo", a carbon credit market for businesses launched by the Tokyo Metropolitan Government in March 2025 to achieve its goal of halving
payments
JR West has launched its new payment service "Wesmo!" under the brand concept "Moving is Value," after becoming the first domestic railway operator to register as a Type II funds transfer service provider under the Payment Services Act. The company has previously provided the J-WEST credit
open banking
MUFG Innovation Partners (MUIP), an investor in Moneytree, today announced that Moneytree has signed a basic agreement with MUFG Bank and its consolidated subsidiary WealthNavi regarding the acquisition of Moneytree’s shares. MUFG Bank, WealthNavi, and Moneytree have expressed their intention to proceed with discussions in accordance with the provisions
stablecoin
Blue Lab and Digital Entertainment Asset (DEA), a Singapore-based company operating a global problem-solving game platform business, will launch a joint proof-of-concept experiment "GLOCAL AGENTS – Local Secret Society" themed around "gamification aimed at sustainable regional revitalization" starting in June 2025. Users will receive rewards based on
blockchain
R3, which is represented in Japan through a joint venture with SBI Group, has entered into a strategic partnership with the Solana Foundation to create next-generation internet capital markets that fuse public and private blockchains. Read also: Progmat, in collaboration with NTT DATA and SBI R3 Japan, has launched both
corporate venture capital
Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group has announced its decision to further strengthen its strategic capital and business alliance with Asuene, with the aim of accelerating decarbonization in Japan and on a global scale. Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation and Asuene have agreed that “Sustana”, a cloud service provided by SMBC to support
weekly
Welcome to the one hundred thirteenth edition of the Japan FinTech Observer. When I joined an investment bank in 2000, we had afternoon fruit baskets. These disappeared after the internet bubble burst, and even before 9/11 happened. A few years later, fruit baskets made a comeback, only to be
ESG
Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group and its consolidated subsidiary, MUFG Bank, have entered into an investment agreement with Greenprint Technologies, a company that operates digital platform for sustainability reporting and data. As a result of this agreement, MUFG has become one of the seed round investors. Established in Oct 2023, Gprnt
crypto
While the Metaplanet story is widely understood by now, especially since it is largely a replication of the (Micro-)Strategy "Bitcoin Treasury" model (see "Metaplanet's fiscal year 2024 results", and "Metaplanet announces 2025-2026 Bitcoin Plan"), Remixpoint is only now getting traction in
japan
When Mizuho released its earnings announcement on May 15, the market response was rather muted, with the closing price down 2% on May 16th while the TOPIX was flat, despite a positive surprise: the introduction of a new shareholder return strategy focused on increasing dividends and targeting a payout ratio