Shinhan and SBI explore yen stablecoin payments with South Korea

Shinhan Card, a unit of South Korea's Shinhan Financial, is working with SBI VC Trade and SBI XDC Network APAC to explore yen-backed stablecoin payments between Japan and South Korea. The early-stage collaboration would cover card-linked merchant payments for Japanese visitors in Korea, wallet-to-wallet transfers and stablecoin settlement of cross-border trade, with systems to detect suspicious transactions and meet AML rules.

• The firms have not named the stablecoin they plan to test and set no timeline for trials or a commercial launch. SBI already distributes JPYSC, a yen stablecoin issued by SBI Shinsei Trust Bank with about $127 million in circulation, but it is currently limited to SBI VC Trade accounts.
• The initiative builds on Shinhan Financial's broader digital-asset push, including an August agreement with Visa to explore stablecoin issuance, transfers and card settlement.
• Shinhan Card serves roughly 20 million cardholders.