Circle Partners With SBI Holdings to Promote USDC Circulation in Japan

USDC issuer Circle has announced its partnered venture with SBI Holdings, the financial services company based in Tokyo, to promote the circulation of USDC and the establishment of Web3 services in Japan. As per a press release, the strategic alliance was initiated with the companies signing a memorandum of understanding (MOU), envisioning redefining the financial landscape of Japan.

Jeremy Allaire, the co-founder and CEO of Circle, took to X to share insights on the company’s mission of encouraging “USDC distribution, banking, and Web3 tech proliferation” in the Japanese market. Allaire further reiterated that Circle has the best opportunity to contribute to the flourishing crypto markets of Japan, “the first major government in the world with this regulatory clarity in effect.”

In June, Japan’s government passed a revised Payment Services Act, as part of its vision for a transition towards a Web3 economy with widespread adoption of virtual currencies. According to the Act, Japan supports “collateralized” stablecoins backed by legal tender, opening up an opportunity to USDC, which Circle claims is backed by the equivalent value of US dollar denominated assets held as reserves.

Circle and SBI Holdings will launch USDC in the Japanese market together, complying with the country’s stablecoin regulations. Further, the collaboration also aims to establish USDC on retail and crypto platforms on a large scale, with SBI Holdings operating to “adopt USDC as a new digital dollar.”

Allaire expressed his excitement in joining hands with SBI Holdings and its Chairman Yoshitaka Kitao, who is hailed as an “extraordinary businessman, innovator and leader in Asia and the world.” Acknowledging Kitao’s profound experience in the field of digital assets, Allaire stated,

Importantly, Kitao-san is not a “johnny come lately” to crypto and blockchain tech. He has understood it and invested in it for nearly a decade. SBI Holdings already operates digital asset trading, brokerage and cross-border payments solutions.

At the initial stage, both companies are expected to invest in the circulation of USDCs across Japan, before pursuing further expansion of Circles’s Web3 services. However, before SBI Holdings can circulate USDC in the country, it must first register with the Japanese authorities as an electronic payment instruments service provider.