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Shinhan Card and SBI units agree to test yen stablecoin payments for travelers and trade between Japan and South Korea
Summary
South Korean card issuer Shinhan Card signed an agreement with Japan's SBI VC Trade and SBI XDC Network APAC to test yen stablecoin payments for travelers and cross-border trade settlement between the two countries, Cointelegraph and CoinDesk reported on Wednesday, Oct. 21.
The companies will test stablecoin card payments, wallet-to-wallet transfers and trade settlement, and will assess anti-money-laundering and fraud-detection controls, according to both outlets.
CoinDesk stresses the work is at an early stage: the firms have not named the stablecoin they plan to test or set a timeline for trials or a commercial launch, and have not said whether SBI's existing yen stablecoin JPYSC will be part of it.
Cointelegraph said the pact was signed Tuesday and Shinhan Card announced it Wednesday, while CoinDesk attributed the announcement to SBI Holdings.
Key facts
- Travel between the two countries generated more than 10 million visitor arrivals in the first eight months of 2026, with 7.42 million South Korean arrivals in Japan and 2.7 million Japanese arrivals in South Korea, Cointelegraph reported, citing official tourism figures.
- SBI distributes JPYSC, a yen-backed stablecoin issued by SBI Shinsei Trust Bank, which had about 20.1 billion yen ($127 million) in circulation as of Sept. 7 and cannot yet be moved to external wallets, CoinDesk reported.
- Shinhan Card serves around 20 million cardholders and will link the project to Shinhan Financial's digital-asset push, including an August agreement with Visa to explore stablecoin issuance, transfers and card settlement, according to CoinDesk.
- Shinhan Card said in April it had completed proof-of-concept testing covering stablecoin payments and cross-border settlement, Cointelegraph reported.