Japan FinTech Observer | Tontines | ex-Goldman & Barclays Tech MD
cashless
GMO Research & AI, a GMO Internet Group company operating in the internet research business, has announced the ranking results for the "Cashless Payment Apps" category in the 2025 "GMO Customer Satisfaction Ranking." In the overall ranking for this category, PayPay claimed first place. The service
artificial intelligence
Japan Digital Design (JDD) has developed a 70-billion parameter large language model (LLM) called "Llama-3.3-fintranslate-JDD-70b" specialized in translating financial market-related documents. In internal evaluations using actual business data, the model achieved performance exceeding global models such as GPT-4o. Additionally, JDD plans to soon begin providing a translation
banking
Mizuho Financial Group's results for the first half of fiscal year 2025 (FY25 H1) reveal a company operating with significant positive momentum. The strong performance, coupled with an upward revision of its full-year profit outlook and an aggressive stance on shareholder value, signals a confident and assertive strategy.
stablecoin
Digital Platformer and JPYC have commenced a joint study aimed at mutual cooperation between Japan's first Japanese Yen-pegged stablecoin "JPYC" and the deposit-backed token "Tochika," launched by Hokkoku Bank in April 2024, as well as the construction of a business alliance model with regional
banking
As Japan's largest megabank, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group (MUFG) occupies a central position in both the domestic and global financial landscape. The company's recent disclosure of strong half-year financial results for the fiscal year ending March 2026 provides a clear window into its current operational momentum
crypto mining
Pivotal Trend Service (PTS) has announced the official launch of its flagship digital asset product, PMN (Pivotal Mining Note), on Republic, marking a significant milestone for the global digital securities industry. PMN becomes the first Japan-originated Security Token Offering (STO) to be compliantly offered in the United States, and the
mergers & acquisitions
Tokio Marine Holdings (TMHD) has signed a definitive agreement to acquire Agrihedge (Commodity & Ingredient Hedging, “CIH”) for USD970 Million (Approximately JPY150.0 Billion). The transaction is expected to close during the fourth quarter of Fiscal Year 2025 (January to March 2026) subject to the receipt of regulatory approvals. Background
cryptocurrency exchange
Binance Japan and PayPay have launched a PayPay Money integration service for Binance Japan's spot cryptocurrency trading (Simple Buy mobile and web versions). This service allows users to purchase cryptocurrencies through PayPay Money deposits and charge PayPay balance with PayPay Money from cryptocurrency sales proceeds. This integration service
asset management
SBI Holdings has entered into a Memorandum of Understanding with AllianceBernstein, one of the world’s leading active investment firms with more than 50 years of history, for the establishment of a joint venture company in Japan specializing in active ETF management. AB is an active investment firm with assets
payments
On its 5th anniversary since business launch, UPSIDER's cumulative number of client companies has exceeded 100,000, and the cumulative transaction volume of its corporate card "UPSIDER" and invoice card payment service "Shiharai.com" has surpassed ¥1 trillion. Reaching 100,000 Companies in 5
SaaS
SmartHR, a leading cloud-native human resources management platform, and General Atlantic, a leading global investor, have announced a US$96 million (JPY¥14.6 billion) strategic minority investment from General Atlantic into SmartHR. General Atlantic acquired its stake in SmartHR from Coral Capital, which will remain a committed minority shareholder.
trust bank
During the first half of fiscal year 2025 (1HFY2025), Sumitomo Mitsui TRUST delivered an exceptional financial performance, culminating in a record-high net income. This robust result was driven by the successful execution of its strategy across three core pillars: strong growth in underlying business profit, a significant positive reversal in