Overview
- SBI Shinsei began a three-month pilot that issues crypto exchange vouchers equal to 20% of earned deposit interest, with vouchers usable for Bitcoin, Ether or XRP.
- The pilot covers ordinary savings and time deposits with terms from three months to five years and will be evaluated for a possible permanent rollout in fall 2026.
- Customers must open an account with SBI VC Trade to redeem vouchers during a designated window and the conversion will use live market prices at the time of redemption.
- Core deposits remain yen-denominated and retain Japan’s standard deposit protections, even as the program routes eligible customers—about 4.33 million accounts—into SBI’s crypto ecosystem.
- The offer builds on SBI Group’s wider crypto push, which includes a crypto rewards card and retail USDC lending that exposes users to counterparty risk, and could materially expand SBI VC Trade’s retail base if many voucher holders convert.