SBI Holdings Pivots Blockchain Initiative to Solana — JV for Stablecoins and Tokenization

What happened

Japanese financial group SBI Holdings is refocusing its blockchain initiative on Solana. The existing joint venture — previously SBI R3 Japan — is being renamed SBI Solana Global and shifts its focus from the permissioned blockchain Corda (built by R3) to Solana. According to the announcement, the Solana Foundation is now also included as a partner in the JV; Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group (SMFG) is named as an additional shareholder.

What is planned

The JV names three core functions:

Stablecoins: supporting the issuance and distribution of stablecoins.
Tokenized RWAs: structuring and distributing tokenized real-world assets.
AI-agent payments: building payment infrastructure for AI agents.

The stated goal is to establish Japan as a core hub for onchain finance in Asia.

Context

SBI Holdings is one of Japan’s largest financial groups; the move is a strong signal of institutional adoption for Solana — as an announcement, not a product already in operation.
The switch from Corda (permissioned) to Solana (public) marks a shift away from closed banking chains toward a public blockchain.
Context: SBI acquired the crypto exchange Bitbank for around $289 million in June 2026.
No specific investment figures or launch date for the Solana products were disclosed.

For how stablecoins work on Solana: Stablecoins on Solana compared. On tokenizing real-world assets: Tokenized stocks (xStocks) on Solana. More institutional examples: Allfunds brings tokenized funds to Solana.

Note: This is reporting, not investment advice.

What to watch

When concrete products (stablecoin, tokenized assets) launch and under which regulation
How the Solana Foundation’s role in the JV is defined in practice
Whether other Japanese institutions follow

Sources

CoinDesk — SBI Holdings’ Blockchain Initiative Pivots to Solana for Tokenization, Stablecoin Issuance
SBI Group — official statement (sbigroup.co.jp)