Startale Japan and Hakuhodo Key3 announced on the 5th the "Stablecoin Adoption Bond," a digital corporate bond for retail investors that pays interest and repays principal in JPYSC, a yen-denominated stablecoin.
The main terms are as follows:
This is the first time in Japan that a digital corporate bond pays interest and repays principal using a trust-type stablecoin. Sota Watanabe, CEO of Startale Group, said he believes the coupon is the highest ever offered on a self-offered digital corporate bond for retail investors.
At the press event, Watanabe explained that for unlisted companies, around ¥100 million is generally the practical ceiling for an issuance. Under the Financial Instruments and Exchange Act, an offering of ¥100 million or more requires the issuer to file a securities registration statement and then submit an annual securities report every year thereafter. Offerings under ¥100 million are exempt from the registration statement, and those above ¥10 million need only a simplified securities notice. The ¥99.9 million offering size appears to have been set with this threshold in mind.
Under amendments to the Financial Instruments and Exchange Act enacted in July 2026, this exemption threshold will be raised to under ¥500 million. The change is scheduled to take effect on April 1, 2027.
Watanabe added, "This time it's less about our funding needs and more about bringing this kind of scheme to Japan and establishing a track record."
Because investors subscribe in Japanese yen, they don't need to hold any stablecoins beforehand. Startale Japan issues the bond, and interest and redemption proceeds are paid in JPYSC, which investors receive through the Startale App. Account opening, identity verification, and all procedures from subscription through redemption are handled on Ownership's platform.
JPYSC is a trust-type yen stablecoin jointly developed by SBI Group and Startale Group. It is issued by SBI Shinsei Trust & Banking and distributed by SBI VC Trade. It was launched on Ethereum on June 24, 2026, and cumulative issuance has reportedly reached about ¥27 billion.
Watanabe explained that using a stablecoin cuts the transfer cost of interest payments to roughly one-hundredth of what existing systems require. He added, "For the second and third issuances, we want to move to daily interest payments."
For this issuance, however, interest will be paid twice a year, on June 1 and December 1, 2027, or once every six months. That is because trust-type stablecoins require a report to be filed with the tax office every time the beneficial interest is transferred, and JPYSC currently cannot circulate outside SBI VC Trade's trading environment. Watanabe noted that the Financial Services Agency has requested, in its tax reform proposals, that this reporting requirement be eliminated, and shared his personal view that the issue will likely be resolved by April 2027.
At the press event, Toshinori Shigematsu, Representative Director of Hakuhodo Key3, explained how self-offered digital corporate bonds work, with the issuer soliciting investors directly rather than through a securities firm. Because no underwriting fees are involved, bonds can be issued in smaller units, bringing the minimum investment down from the conventional level of around ¥1,000,000 to ¥100,000, or in principle as low as about ¥1,000.
Explaining why an advertising company is getting involved, Shigematsu said that buying a company's bonds is also a way of supporting it. "Cultivating fan investors, through both stocks and bonds, is becoming part of marketing," he said.
He also pointed out that the smaller the units, the more cumbersome it becomes to send interest and redemption payments. Stablecoins, with their low fees and fast transfers, can solve this problem, he explained, which led to the current initiative.
Startale Group, the bond's guarantor, completed a $63 million (about ¥10 billion) Series A round in March 2026. This comprised $13 million from Sony Group's Sony Innovation Fund, raised in the first close in January, and $50 million from SBI Group. Startale Japan also plans to offer exclusive perks for bond purchasers.
Photo: Shogo Kurobe
Official Campaign Site：https://startale.com/bond
