SBI Holdings Swaps Corda for Solana to Make Japan an Onchain Finance Hub

SBI Holdings shifts its blockchain venture to Solana

On 13 July 2026, SBI Holdings said it is redirecting its blockchain initiative from R3's Corda to the Solana network. The Japanese financial services group aims to connect its domestic market to global liquidity through Solana's layer-1 blockchain. SBI Holdings ranks among Japan's largest financial services groups. The venture will support a broad range of blockchain-based financial services aimed at businesses and institutional investors. The group frames the network as a bridge between Japanese digital assets and international markets.

SBI Solana Global replaces the venture's Corda base

The unit, now called SBI Solana Global, was previously known as SBI R3 Japan. It counts Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group among its shareholders and now adds the Solana Foundation, the Zug, Switzerland-based organisation that oversees the network. The shift marks a move away from Corda, the permissioned blockchain developed by R3, toward a public layer-1 network. R3 built Corda as a permissioned platform for regulated financial institutions.

The venture targets stablecoins, tokenised assets, and AI payments

SBI Holdings lists three main functions for the venture. It plans to support the issuance and distribution of stablecoins, including Japanese yen-backed tokens. It also aims to structure and distribute tokenised real-world assets, often shortened to RWAs. The third goal is to develop payment infrastructure for AI agents. The group says the platform will also handle cross-border payments and institutional-grade products for large investors.

"By creating a new market for Japan-originated digital assets, the collaboration aims to establish Japan as a core hub for onchain finance in Asia", 13 July 2026. — SBI Holdings, official statement

Solana traded near $76 at time of publication

Solana traded at $75.71 at the time of publication, down 1.81% over the past 24 hours against the previous close (CoinPaprika, 13 July 2026). The token fell 5.67% over the past seven days and held a market value of about $44 billion. Trading volume over the previous 24 hours reached about $1.2 billion. Solana ranked among the ten largest cryptocurrencies by market value.

SBI agreed to buy Bitbank in June for $289 million

The Solana move builds on SBI's wider push into digital assets. In late June 2026, the group agreed to buy Japanese crypto exchange Bitbank for about $289 million, or roughly 46.7 billion yen. SBI is making the purchase through a wholly owned subsidiary and will buy shares from Bitbank's chief executive and other shareholders. The company expects the combined business to become Japan's largest regulated crypto exchange operator.

The Bitbank deal awaits approval and closes in October

The Bitbank purchase remains subject to regulatory approval and is expected to close in October 2026. Once complete, SBI expects the combined company to hold about 2.92 million crypto asset accounts and around 1.1 trillion yen in assets under custody. The group previously bought crypto exchange Bitpoint in 2022 as part of the same expansion.