SBI DigiTrust has started testing stablecoin-based payments between Japan and South Korea with Korean payment company NICE Information & Telecommunication and blockchain company DSRV.
The companies are testing a system that could allow Japanese travelers in South Korea to pay at participating merchants by scanning QR codes. They plan to complete the testing by the end of December 2026.
The test is looking at the full payment process, including how money moves from the Japanese customer to the Korean merchant, what payment instructions are needed and how the systems of the three companies can work together.
NICE brings a large merchant network to the project, with around 1.2 million merchants across South Korea. The companies have not said that all of these merchants will participate in the test.
SBI DigiTrust is handling the Japanese financial and digital-asset side of the project. NICE is focused on its payment infrastructure and merchant operations, while DSRV is working on the blockchain and technical side.
The companies have not yet revealed which stablecoin they will use. They also have not announced the blockchain, wallet provider, exchange-rate system or settlement currency involved in the test.
The project is focused on practical payments rather than simply moving stablecoins between test wallets. The partners want to see how a blockchain-based payment could work with payment systems already used by Korean merchants.
NICE will also study the merchant experience, connections with existing payment systems and whether stablecoin settlement could make commercial sense.
DSRV will examine the technical requirements, including the blockchain infrastructure, stablecoin setup and connections between the systems used by the three companies.
The test will also look at transaction costs and the amount of activity the system could handle. The end-of-December deadline is only a testing target and does not mean a commercial launch will happen at that time.
Regulation is another important part of the project because Japan and South Korea are at different stages with stablecoin rules.
Japan already has regulations covering fiat-backed stablecoins and businesses that provide related services. South Korea, meanwhile, is still developing its framework for stablecoins, including possible won-based stablecoins.
The companies will continue monitoring regulatory changes in South Korea while the testing is underway.
This is not SBI’s first attempt to build stablecoin payment connections between Japan and South Korea.
In August, SBI began a separate project with South Korean blockchain infrastructure company Nodeinfra to explore a Japan-Korea stablecoin network using the Canton Network.
Another pilot involving Kyobo Life and SBI tested yen-won stablecoin payments in September. That project examined transfers, foreign exchange, settlement, tracking and reconciliation without using the U.S. dollar as an intermediate settlement currency.
SBI Remit has also been working on cross-border stablecoin infrastructure with Fasset for international payments and settlements.
SBI Group has also expanded its stablecoin business inside Japan. Ripple and SBI VC Trade launched RLUSD in Japan in June after receiving the required regulatory approval.
For the current project, SBI DigiTrust, NICE and DSRV will spend the rest of 2026 testing the complete payment process from a Japanese traveler to a Korean merchant.
The companies will review fund transfers, payment instructions, system connections, transaction costs and the potential size of a future service.
Once the testing is completed, the results will be used to decide whether the system has a path toward commercial use. For now, the companies have only committed to the testing phase and have not announced a commercial launch date.
