SBI extends onchain finance push with Ondo deal to tokenize Japanese stocks

Japan's SBI Holdings is continuing full steam ahead on its push into onchain finance, announcing a partnership with Ondo Finance on Thursday to bring Japanese equities onchain.

The companies said they will work together to tokenize Japanese equities through Ondo Global Markets, distribute Ondo's products across SBI's network and use SBI's JPYSC stablecoin for settlement and collateral.

The agreement is the latest in a string of digital asset initiatives by the Japanese financial conglomerate as it builds an onchain finance ecosystem that spans tokenized assets, stablecoins, exchanges and market infrastructure suited to institutions.

In just the past month, SBI became the sole investor in Gauntlet's $125 million Series C and EDX Market's $75 million Series C funding rounds, launched JPYSC, Japan's first trust bank-backed yen stablecoin, announced a lending product for the token, and partnered with the Solana Foundation to build a Japan-based onchain financial market. It also acquired Japanese crypto exchange Bitbank for nearly $289 million in June.

Thursday's deal with Ondo now extends that push into the growing tokenized equities space and will connect Japan's capital markets with the tokenized economy.

"Japan is one of the most sophisticated capital markets in the world, and SBI sits at the center of it," Ondo Finance CEO Ian De Bode said in a statement. "This collaboration creates a path to bring Japanese assets onchain and to connect Japan with the global tokenized economy."

SBI CEO Yoshitaka Kitao said Ondo has established itself as a leader in tokenized real-world assets and tokenized equities and will be a key strategic partner as SBI expands its global digital asset ecosystem.

Tokenized equities have a market capitalization approaching $13 billion, representing around 15% of the broader tokenized asset market, according to The Block’s data. Asset-backed credit and U.S. Treasurys remain the sector’s largest categories.