On June 9, 2025, Ripple Labs partner SBI Holdings and its banking subsidiary, SBI Shinsei Bank, revealed they collectively invested $50 million in Circle Internet Group, the issuer of the successful USDC stablecoin. Each company contributed $25 million.
This investment comes right after Circle’s big debut on the New York Stock Exchange on June 5. The company’s stock opened at $69 and closed the day at $83. It’s considered one of the most successful fintech IPOs since Coinbase went public in 2021.
As per the announcement , SBI believes that digital assets, including crypto assets, will play a vital role in the future of the financial industry, and have been actively investing in and forming partnerships with promising companies in this field.
SBI is now going all in on Circle, particularly USDC, a stablecoin that is collateralized by U.S. dollars. SBI believes there’s high potential for USDC in Japan, particularly when regulations begin to relax. Both the companies signed a business alliance in November 2023. And in March 2025, SBI became the first crypto exchange in Japan to offer USDC to the public. They’ve also agreed to launch a joint venture company called Circle SBI Japan KK to grow USDC use cases in the country.
This is not a new partnership with crypto space. SBI has partnered with Ripple Labs, and now it holds around 9% of its shares in 2021. Additionally, SBI and Ripple Labs started a joint company called SBI Ripple Asia to build blockchain-based payment systems for Japan and other parts of Asia. Over the years, SBI has already partnered with other major blockchain companies like , R3 (Corda), and Securitize.
With this new investment, SBI intends to engage even more closely with Circle to help integrate USDC into Japan’s financial system and extend its use in daily transactions and finance.
