Japanese crypto exchange SBI VC Trade on 24 Jun listed Ripple's RLUSD dollar stablecoin and began offering the SBI Group's newly issued JPYSC yen stablecoin, the first products under two new categories in Japan's revised Payment Services Act.
SBI Opens Two Sides of Japan's New Stablecoin Regime in One Day
25 June 2026 - 09:15 CEST
By Oihyun Kim
JPYSC became Japan's first trust bank-issued stablecoin under a new Type 3 category for tokens backed by reserves held in trust. RLUSD was listed simultaneously as the first foreign-issued stablecoin approved under the residual Type 4 classification, opening both lanes of the framework through SBI Holdings' licensed crypto arm.
The act defines four categories of electronic payment instruments: Type 1 for fiat-denominated value used in payment; Type 2 for funds-transfer tokens exchangeable with Type 1; Type 3 for trust beneficiary rights; and Type 4 as a residual slot set by cabinet office ordinance. JPYC, licensed in October 2025, sits in Type 2.
Yen token uncapped
SBI Shinsei Trust Bank issues JPYSC, co-developed with Singapore-based Startale Group. The trust structure ring-fences reserves under Japan's Trust Act and lets the token operate without the ¥1mn (about $6,200) cap on transaction size and account holdings that applies to Type 2 funds-transfer tokens.
SBI positions JPYSC as infrastructure for onchain FX, institutional lending and tokenized asset settlement. Circulation is, for now, confined to SBI VC Trade accounts pending tax and regulatory clarifications regarding public-chain transfers. Startale CEO Sota Watanabe said roughly $70mn was issued on day one.
Dollar route capped
RLUSD, issued by Ripple subsidiary Standard Custody and Trust Company, was listed on the exchange's VCTRADE platform following approval from the Japan Financial Services Agency (FSA).
SBI VC Trade noted that although RLUSD is not structured as a trust beneficiary right under US law, it was categorized as a Type 4 instrument under Japanese law. Trading is limited to RLUSD natively issued on Ethereum, with per-transaction size and withdrawals capped at the same ¥1mn ceiling. The token's reserves are subject to monthly attestations by a US accountant, according to the exchange.
Set against MiCA
Japan's stablecoin framework differs structurally from the two other major regulated regimes. The EU's Markets in Crypto-Assets (MiCA) regulation, in force since 2024, treats fiat-backed tokens as e-money tokens or asset-referenced tokens and applies issuer licensing without a Japan-style trust bank route.
The US GENIUS Act, signed into law in July 2025, sets reserve and licensing rules for dollar stablecoins but remains in the rulemaking phase.
Tether's USDT, the largest dollar stablecoin by market value, has not secured approval under any of these regimes and remains unavailable through licensed Japanese venues. Among regulated dollar stablecoins, Circle's USDC was the first to be listed on SBI VC Trade in March 2025; RLUSD is the second.
The amended Payment Services Act came into full force on 13 Jun, and the FSA's regime for qualifying foreign stablecoins took effect on 1 Jun. Japan's three megabanks, MUFG, SMBC, and Mizuho, the country's three largest by assets, target live interbank transactions by 31 Mar 2027 under the same Type 3 framework through the Progmat platform.
