BlackRock, SBI, and Startale sign MOU on yen stablecoin link
DeFi & Yields ·
The three firms have agreed to explore connecting tokenized money market funds to the JPYSC yen-denominated stablecoin, marking BlackRock's latest step into Japan's digital-asset infrastructure.
BlackRock, SBI Holdings, and Startale signed a memorandum of understanding to examine how tokenized money market funds could interoperate with JPYSC, a yen stablecoin, according to The Block. The agreement is exploratory rather than a finished product launch, and no financial terms or timeline for implementation have been disclosed.
The move extends BlackRock's existing push into tokenized cash-like instruments. The asset manager, which oversees roughly $13.9 trillion in client assets, already runs the BUIDL tokenized money market fund, one of the products that has anchored its broader institutional crypto strategy, per leviathan.news. Linking such a fund to a yen stablecoin would, in theory, let holders move between a dollar-denominated tokenized cash instrument and a yen-pegged digital asset without leaving onchain rails — though the MOU stops short of specifying how that mechanism would work.
The partnership adds a Japan-specific thread to a year in which BlackRock has repeatedly tied tokenized funds to stablecoin infrastructure elsewhere. A separate $100 million facility opened earlier in 2026 allowed swaps between BUIDL and Ethena's USDe after BlackRock added that stablecoin to its Aladdin platform, and a $1 billion facility from Grove was set up to allow instant redemptions from BlackRock and Janus Henderson tokenized funds. Those precedents suggest the SBI and Startale arrangement follows a pattern BlackRock has used to bridge tokenized fund products with stablecoin liquidity in other markets.
Three distinct sources are tracking the MOU, with coverage converging on the same core claim: BlackRock, SBI, and Startale are exploring the tokenized-fund-to-JPYSC integration rather than announcing a live product. What remains unresolved is the structure of any eventual link — whether it would involve direct redemption rights, a swap facility similar to the USDe arrangement, or custody and regulatory conditions specific to Japan's stablecoin framework. Further detail on scope, counterparties, and timing has not yet been published.