SBI stablecoin test focuses on tourist QR payments
The official announcement says the companies are studying a practical checkout flow instead of limiting the project to blockchain transfers between test wallets. NICE contributes its existing payment infrastructure and merchant operations, while DSRV examines the blockchain architecture needed to support the settlement process.
SBI DigiTrust handles the Japanese regulatory, financial and digital-asset side of the project. The SBI Group company said its role includes designing the payment structure while considering cooperation with other SBI businesses.
From the Korean side, NICE said the companies signed their three-way memorandum at its Seoul headquarters on Sept. 30. The test is expected to run through December before the companies decide how the model could be developed commercially.
The parties have not disclosed which stablecoin will be used. Their announcements do not identify a blockchain, wallet provider, exchange-rate system or settlement currency, and they have not announced a launch date for a commercial service.
NICE gives the test access to a large merchant network
NICE operates payment services across South Korea and supports roughly 1.2 million merchants nationwide, according to SBI’s announcement. The current verification uses NICE-affiliated merchants as the test setting, though neither company has said that all 1.2 million locations will participate.
NICE will examine merchant operations, connections with existing payment systems and the business case for stablecoin settlement. The company’s role gives the partners a way to study how a blockchain-based transfer could connect with payment infrastructure already used by Korean stores.
DSRV is responsible for the technical side. SBI said the Korean blockchain company will study system design, stablecoin requirements and connections between blockchain infrastructure and the existing systems used by the other partners.
The verification will examine transaction size and cost alongside technical feasibility. The partners said those findings will be used when considering whether a commercial service makes sense, meaning the December target is a testing deadline rather than a public launch date.
Stablecoin rules differ between Japan and South Korea
Regulation remains part of the test because Japan and South Korea are at different stages in their stablecoin frameworks.
Japan already regulates fiat-linked stablecoins as electronic payment instruments. The Financial Services Agency states that businesses providing services involving electronic payment instruments in Japan must operate under the relevant Payment Services Act registration requirements.
Japan expanded its digital-asset framework on June 1, introducing a registration system for businesses that intermediate certain stablecoin and crypto services on behalf of registered providers. The FSA confirmed that the new intermediary regime became effective on that date.
South Korea is still working through its rules for won-linked stablecoins. SBI’s official announcement specifically says the Korean regulatory framework remains under development and that the partners will continue reviewing policy changes while the test runs.
The Bank of Korea has been conducting its own work on digital payments, tokenized deposits and CBDC infrastructure while participating in discussions over won stablecoin legislation. Its 2025 payment systems report said the central bank had increased its research on virtual assets and was contributing to the policy debate around KRW stablecoins.
SBI is testing several Japan-Korea payment routes
The NICE and DSRV project is not SBI’s first stablecoin test connecting Japan and South Korea.
In August, SBI began work on a separate Japan-Korea stablecoin network using Canton with South Korean blockchain infrastructure company Nodeinfra. That project is examining payment tokens and eventual regulated stablecoin settlement between financial institutions.
Another experiment reached the testing stage in September. Kyobo Life and SBI completed a yen-won stablecoin payment pilot that tested direct exchange between representations of yen and won without routing settlement through the U.S. dollar.
The Kyobo test used the Canton Network and covered transfer, foreign exchange, settlement, tracking and reconciliation. No institutional funds moved in that pilot, and the companies did not announce a production launch date.
SBI Remit has pursued a separate international payment path. SBI Remit partnered with Fasset on cross-border stablecoin infrastructure covering remittances, payment services and settlement across multiple markets.
SBI Group has been building regulated stablecoin products inside Japan as well. Ripple and SBI VC Trade launched RLUSD in the country in June after receiving the required regulatory approval, giving Japanese customers access to the dollar-backed stablecoin through a licensed local distributor.
December results will determine the next step
For the current project, SBI DigiTrust said the partners will use the remaining months of 2026 to map the complete payment process from the Japanese user to the Korean merchant.
The work will cover fund movement, payment and settlement instructions, connections between company systems, transaction costs and the scale at which a future service could operate. The partners intend to identify operational and regulatory issues that would have to be addressed before commercialization.
SBI said the companies will use the findings as material for future business decisions once the verification concludes. The announcement sets the end of December 2026 as the completion target but does not commit NICE, DSRV or SBI DigiTrust to launching a commercial Japan-Korea stablecoin payment service afterward.
