Japan’s SBI Group has joined Singapore-based stablecoin payments firm dtcpay as a strategic investor, extending the company’s Series A to 25 million USD and giving one of Asia’s largest financial groups a bigger stake in the race to pay with digital dollars at everyday merchants.
By Jordan Lee | September 19, 2026
dtcpay announced the completed round on September 18, 2026. The company builds the plumbing that lets businesses accept, hold, and convert stablecoins — digital tokens pegged to traditional money like the U.S. dollar — alongside regular fiat currency. Think of it as a bridge between the crypto world and the cash register. The new money arrives as stablecoin payments keep spreading across Asia, and as the wider crypto market rebounds, with Bitcoin trading near 81,800 USD and Ethereum near 2,649 USD according to the latest CoinGecko snapshot.
The Hook: Big Money Keeps Betting on Stablecoin Payments
The round started smaller. In March 2026, Vertex Ventures Southeast Asia and India led a 10 million USD first slice of the Series A. The September 18 announcement brings the total to 25 million USD, meaning another 15 million USD was added on top — anchored by SBI’s arrival. SBI invested through two vehicles: SBI Ventures Asset and the SBI-NTU-Kyobo Digital Innovation Fund, a Singapore-based fund SBI runs jointly with Nanyang Technological University and Korea’s Kyobo.
Other participants include Genedant Capital and existing investor Kwee Liong Tek. The company did not disclose how much SBI specifically put in, what ownership stake was sold, or a new valuation — so investors should treat the 25 million USD figure as the only hard number in the deal.
Why does this matter for regular crypto holders? Because payments is where stablecoins have found their most obvious real-world use. Every major bank, card network, and fintech firm is now building for this. When a Japanese financial giant like SBI repeatedly puts money into stablecoin infrastructure, it signals that institutions see digital-dollar payments as a lasting business — not a passing fad.
On-Chain Evidence: What dtcpay Actually Does
dtcpay was founded by Alice Liu and Band Zhao and operates in Singapore through Digital Treasures Center Pte. Ltd. The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS), the country’s financial regulator, lists the firm as a Major Payment Institution — a license tier for companies operating above certain size thresholds. The authorization covers six regulated services, including:
- Account issuance — letting customers open and hold payment accounts
- Domestic and cross-border money transfers — moving funds within Singapore and abroad
- Merchant acquisition — signing up shops to accept payments
- E-money issuance — issuing digital money itself
- Digital payment token services — the regulatory category covering crypto and stablecoin handling
Beyond Singapore, the company says it holds licenses or registrations in Hong Kong, Australia, the U.S., and Canada, and its Luxembourg subsidiary is listed in Bank of Lithuania records as an EU Electronic Money Institution — a passport for regulated services across the European Economic Area.
On the ground, dtcpay’s technology lets merchants accept major stablecoins like USDT and USDC through existing point-of-sale equipment, meaning customers don’t need a special app to pay. Singapore department-store operator Metro accepts stablecoins through dtcpay’s infrastructure, and the company launched a Visa Infinite card in February 2025 that converts stablecoin balances into fiat at checkout. Its Global Pay product says transfers can reach more than 100 countries, generally within the same day.
The Core Conflict: Regulated Growth in an Unfinished Rulebook
Here’s the tension. dtcpay is regulated as a payments company — but Singapore’s rules for the stablecoins themselves are still being written. This month, MAS proposed changes to its Payment Services Act covering stablecoin issuers, reserve requirements, and foreign-issued tokens. In plain terms: dtcpay’s license lets it move money, but that doesn’t mean every stablecoin it processes carries an official MAS stablecoin designation. That gap is worth understanding before assuming any platform’s tokens carry government-backed protections.
There’s also a transparency question. The company’s announcement claims its real-time swap engine settles stablecoin and fiat transactions faster and cheaper than traditional correspondent banking — the slow chain of banks that normally moves money across borders. But dtcpay did not publish settlement samples, average cost data, or an audited comparison backing the “fraction of the cost” language. The claim may well be true; it just isn’t independently verified yet. The company also did not disclose revenue, payment volume, or merchant counts.
For SBI, the bet fits a wider pattern. In June, SBI Remit partnered with Fasset on stablecoin infrastructure for international remittances. The Japanese group is steadily assembling a portfolio of blockchain settlement businesses — and dtcpay is now part of that picture.
Market Implications: Stablecoins Are Eating Payments From Both Ends
The backdrop is a payments industry going through its biggest shift in decades. Visa reported in September that more than 160 stablecoin-linked card programs were operating globally, with payment volume across them up nearly 200 percent year over year, and stablecoin settlement activity passing a 20 billion USD annualized rate. Those numbers cover Visa’s whole network — not dtcpay — but they show the current the Singapore firm is swimming with.
For everyday investors, the takeaway is about direction rather than any single company. Stablecoins have moved from a crypto-trading convenience to a genuine cross-border payments tool. Companies building the regulated pipes — licensing, merchant acceptance, card rails — are attracting institutional capital even during market downturns. If that continues, demand for the major stablecoins and the infrastructure around them becomes less dependent on crypto price speculation and more tied to boring, recurring payment volume.
The Verdict
dtcpay’s extended Series A is a modest funding event by venture standards, but the signal is bigger than the number. A licensed Singapore payments firm, backed by one of Japan’s largest financial groups, is scaling stablecoin acceptance across Asia and Europe. The company plans to spend the new capital on product development, merchant expansion, and growth in regulated international markets — including a redesigned business portal and new consumer app features through the rest of 2026.
Caveats remain: no disclosed valuation, no published performance data, and a stablecoin rulebook still being finalized in its home market. But as a marker of where institutional money sees crypto’s real utility, this round points squarely at payments. For holders, the practical move is simple awareness — the infrastructure to spend stablecoins at real merchants is being built right now, and traditional finance is paying for it.
The cryptocurrency market remains highly volatile. This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute financial advice.
SBI keeps showing up in every serious crypto deal in Asia. 25M for stablecoin rails at the cash register is way more interesting than another L2
meanwhile BTC near 81,800 and everyone is watching charts. payments infra is where the real volume is gonna be
payments volume yeah but margins are tiny. SBI wants the settlement layer so they own the pipe when the volume actually shows up
agreed, and dtcpay already holds a Major Payment Institution license in Singapore. the compliance moat is the actual product here
an MPI license is a moat until every bank on some register gets one too. the 25M buys speed more than protection
Singapore base, Japanese money, digital dollars at regular merchants. This is the boring infrastructure that actually gets adopted
SBI also runs a joint venture with Ripple across Asia. This stablecoin push is the same playbook, they want the rails, not the hype.
the ripple JV and dtcpay are the same bet, own the rails before the volumes arrive. SBI has been playing this longer than half this market existed
Remember when SBI was just a boring brokerage? Now they are in dtcpay, custody, trading. Slow money moves first, fast money moves last.
digital dollars for merchant payments in a country this protective of its own yen framework. SBI clearly expects the rules to bend toward stablecoins