BlackRock, SBI and Startale Sign MOU to Link Tokenized Money Market Funds to Yen Stablecoin JPYSC
Published October 27, 2026, 6:00 AM PKT. Based on the SBI Holdings and Startale announcement carried by Chainwire on October 27, 2026 (primary source), and reporting by The Block on October 26, 2026, CryptoBriefing, and Coinlab on October 26, 2026 (secondary sources). This is the first MABOnChain article on the BlackRock, SBI and Startale memorandum of understanding, and it is distinct from MABOnChain's earlier tokenized fund coverage.
BlackRock, SBI Holdings and Startale Group have signed a memorandum of understanding to explore connecting tokenized money market funds with JPYSC, a yen-denominated stablecoin, the companies announced on October 27, 2026. SBI Holdings and Startale signed the agreement with BlackRock Financial Management and BlackRock Japan, according to the announcement. The Block reported the agreement on October 26, 2026 in the United States, which is October 27 in Tokyo, where the announcement was dated.
The three areas the agreement covers
The companies said they will examine the potential connection across three areas: technology and infrastructure, business and distribution, and regulation and market development. On technology, they plan to explore the technical requirements and infrastructure needed to support an integration, according to The Block. On business, they plan to examine potential business models and distribution opportunities by using their respective networks and market access. On regulation, they plan to consider relevant regulatory developments in assessing the market environment for tokenized assets and stablecoins.
The collaboration is designed to be open to various financial institutions and businesses in Japan and internationally, the companies said. That open framing matters because the agreement does not name a closed club of participants, a single fund, or a single distribution channel. It describes a study of shared plumbing for tokenized funds and yen stablecoins, with room for other firms to join later, rather than a finished network launching with a fixed membership.
SBI Holdings chairman and president Yoshitaka Kitao framed the move as preparation for a shift he called unavoidable. "The shift to onchain finance is becoming an unavoidable global trend. If Japan is to lead this transformation rather than fall behind, we must prepare early and build the foundations for the next generation of financial markets," Kitao said, according to The Block. The companies added, in the announcement, that the next step is to develop the infrastructure, distribution channels, and regulatory frameworks needed to connect tokenized assets with stablecoins and support broader market adoption.
BUIDL at $2.17 billion, and JPYSC, launched in June
The two sides of the proposed connection already exist in separate forms. BlackRock launched its tokenized fund BUIDL in 2024, and it has grown to around $2.17 billion in U.S. Treasurys, overnight repos, and cash under management, according to The Block. A money market fund parks cash in short-term, low-risk instruments, and a tokenized version represents fund shares as tokens on a blockchain, so they can move and settle more like digital assets, CryptoBriefing explained.
On the stablecoin side, SBI launched JPYSC with Startale in June 2026 as Japan's first trust bank-backed yen stablecoin, according to The Block. SBI Shinsei Trust Bank manages the issuance, while SBI VC Trade, a licensed crypto exchange, is responsible for its distribution, The Block reported. Coinlab reported the same structure and added that JPYSC is backed through a trust bank. Pairing a tokenized fund with a stablecoin creates an obvious use case, CryptoBriefing noted: the stablecoin can act as the cash leg, letting investors move between a yield-bearing fund and a payment token without waiting on traditional banking rails.
Japan's stablecoin rulebook, built since 2022
Japan established its legal framework for stablecoins through amendments to the Payment Services Act in 2022, according to The Block. The framework came into force a year later, defining fiat-backed stablecoins as Electronic Payment Instruments and limiting their issuance to licensed banks, trust companies, and registered money transfer services, The Block reported. That framework is the reason a yen stablecoin project in Japan looks different from a dollar stablecoin issued elsewhere: issuance runs through regulated institutions, and a trust bank sits behind JPYSC.
The timing also fits a wider tokenization push in Asia in the same week, but the agreement itself is narrower than a market-wide launch. It does not say which tokenized money market funds would connect to JPYSC first, whether BlackRock's BUIDL would be the fund involved, or which blockchain the connection would use. Readers should not assume BUIDL is the named fund in the agreement, because the announcement describes tokenized money market funds in general, not a specific BlackRock fund.
What this agreement does not do yet
For now, this is a statement of intent, not a product, Coinlab noted, and no launch date has been set. No joint product has been announced, no timeline for a commercial rollout appears in the reporting, and no amounts, fees, or target markets beyond Japan and internationally are specified. The honest reading is that the world's largest asset manager, one of Japan's largest financial groups, and a Japan-focused blockchain infrastructure company have agreed to study the same plumbing, not that investors can yet move between a tokenized fund and JPYSC through a live service.
Even so, the involvement of BlackRock signals that major global managers see onchain settlement as relevant to Japan's regulated financial sector, according to KuCoin's summary of the reporting, and it is a step toward more currency diversity in a stablecoin market dominated by dollars. If the study leads to a live connection, it would give institutions a yen-denominated cash leg for tokenized funds inside Japan's regulated framework. Until then, the agreement is best judged as groundwork: three work areas, an open door to other institutions, and no product to buy.
This article is news reporting and is not investment advice.
Sources
- SBI Holdings and Startale Group, BlackRock, SBI Holdings and Startale Sign Landmark MOU to Bridge Tokenized Money Market Funds and Yen Stablecoin (JPYSC) (October 27, 2026, via Chainwire), primary source
- The Block, BlackRock joins SBI and Startale to link tokenized MMFs with Japanese yen stablecoins (October 26, 2026), secondary source
- CryptoBriefing, BlackRock signs MOU with SBI and Startale to explore linking tokenized MMFs with yen stablecoin JPYSC (October 26, 2026), secondary source
- Coinlab, BlackRock, SBI and Startale to link tokenized MMFs to yen coin (October 26, 2026), secondary source
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