In an era defined by intensifying geopolitical fragmentation and the relentless march of technological disruption, a nation’s entrepreneurial health is a critical indicator of national resilience and survival. For Japan, the stakes are heightened by a deepening demographic depletion that threatens traditional industrial output. To remain relevant, Japan must
Mizuho Bank announced that a storage medium containing sensitive customer information has been lost at one of its third-party system development subcontractors. The incident potentially affects nearly 60,000 individuals and corporate entities connected to the bank's overseas operations. According to the bank’s disclosure, the missing media
LINE NEXT announced today the integration of the yen-denominated stablecoin JPYC into its upcoming Web3 wallet, "Unify" in order to accelerate the mainstream adoption of cryptocurrency in Japan. The announcement, made during the WebX conference, signals a transition from experimental blockchain projects to tangible implementations, leveraging the ubiquitous
SBI Holdings and Startale Group officially unveiled "JPYSC" on Friday with a view to bridge traditional banking with the burgeoning Web3 economy, branding it as the first Japanese Yen stablecoin backed by a trust bank. The strategic alliance positions JPYSC as a fully regulated digital asset designed for
While the global stablecoin market has swelled to $300 billion following the U.S. enactment of the "Genius Act" in 2025, the sector remains overwhelmingly tethered to the Greenback. Speaking at the MoneyX/WebX conference, executives from Circle Internet Group and Binance debated the path toward a truly
JPYC Inc., the issuer of the Japanese Yen-pegged stablecoin "JPYC," has completed the first close of its Series B funding round, raising a total of 1.78 billion yen (approx. $11.8 million USD). The round was led by Asteria Corporation, with participation from a diverse consortium of
Rakuten Group and its banking unit, Rakuten Bank, have agreed to reopen negotiations regarding the reorganization of their financial technology businesses, less than two years after shelving a similar proposal. The companies have executed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to integrate Rakuten Bank, Rakuten Card, and Rakuten Securities into a
Progmat has entered into a strategic partnership with Ava Labs (Avalanche) and blockchain interoperability startup Datachain, aiming to accelerate the "financial on-chain" ecosystem by migrating Progmat’s Security Token (ST) platform from a private ledger to the Avalanche public blockchain ecosystem. From Private Consortium to Public Ecosystem Progmat,
Fujitsu is doubling down on its digital transformation strategy for the financial sector, announcing a major reorganization of its "Uvance for Finance" portfolio. The Japanese technology giant aims to generate 200 billion yen in sales from this business segment by the fiscal year ending March 2030, betting heavily
Woodstock has completed a sweeping overhaul of its service model, introducing 24-hour trading capability and completely eliminating transaction fees for US stocks. The announcement was made during a media briefing held in Tokyo, where Woodstock CEO Brian Yun outlined the company’s aggressive strategy to capture the burgeoning interest in
Welcome to the one hundred fifty-second edition of the Japan FinTech Observer. Happy birthday to Emperor Naruhito 🎂 It's conference week again! If you would like to meet, you will most likely find us at the N.Avenue conference, the Credit Saison Blockchain Summit, the Yield Summit, and MoneyX.
Yamato Credit Finance, the financial subsidiary of the Yamato Transport group, has adopted the "Moneytree Verify" solution for its two-party factoring services. The integration marks a significant shift in the non-bank lending sector, moving away from static, paper-based credit assessments toward real-time, data-driven monitoring. Driving Digital Transformation in