> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://stablecoininsider.org/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # SBI Backs dtcpay as It Buys Into Every Asian Stablecoin Rail - URL: https://stablecoininsider.org/dtcpay-series-a-sbi-group/ - Published: 2026-09-18T14:30:31.000Z - Updated: 2026-09-18T14:30:31.000Z - Description: Learn why SBI's $25M investment in Singapore's dtcpay matters less as a funding round than as the fifth Asian stablecoin rail SBI has bought into since August. - Author: Milos Djukanovic - Tags: News, SBI, Singapore Singapore-based stablecoin payments firm dtcpay said on Friday, September 18, that it has completed a $25 million Series A after Japan's SBI Group joined as a strategic investor. SBI invested through SBI Ventures Asset Pte Ltd and through the SBI-NTU-Kyobo Digital Innovation Fund. Neither side disclosed the size of SBI's cheque or the company's valuation. The round was led by Vertex Ventures Southeast Asia and India, whose opening $10 million tranche was announced earlier in 2026, with reports placing it in March or April. Genedant Capital and existing investor Kwee Liong Tek also took part. The capital is earmarked for a rebuilt business portal for enterprise clients, new features in the consumer app, and merchant network expansion. No launch dates were attached to any of it. > Chairman Band Zhao framed the raise around growth, saying **"the next chapter for dtcpay is about scale."** ### Key Takeaways - dtcpay closed a $25 million Series A with SBI Group as strategic investor. - SBI invested via SBI Ventures Asset and the SBI-NTU-Kyobo Digital Innovation Fund. - No valuation, revenue, or SBI contribution size was disclosed. - dtcpay holds a Major Payment Institution licence from the Monetary Authority of Singapore. - Funds target an enterprise portal, app features, and merchant network expansion. --- ## What Was Announced This is a completion rather than a new round. The Series A opened with a $10 million tranche led by Vertex Ventures Southeast Asia and India, and SBI's participation takes the total to $25 million. SBI Ven Capital chief executive Eiichiro So described the investment as the start of a strategic partnership rather than a passive allocation, pointing to a wider aim of expanding digital asset origination between Japan and Southeast Asia. That framing is the part worth reading closely. A round like this is a late milestone in a sequence that starts much earlier and much smaller. Before any term sheet exists there is a registered entity, and you can [register your FREE LLC](https://gotrk1.com/o/click/fd67b8ab-a1e8-4a2b-a339-1635ebeea2bf/5912f4d9-3b22-4aec-9fd8-1af263dd367c?p%5Fclick%5Fid=[CLICK%5FID]) today to clear that first step. Formation is not funding, but no cap table exists without it. [![IncAuthority](https://storage.ghost.io/c/73/6a/736af0e4-2274-4543-a329-2952b2b52abc/content/images/2026/09/Screenshot-2026-09-18-at-16.02.18.png)](https://www.incauthority.com/start-free/impact?im%5Fref=zNKQxgWNuxyZUoiRNvxgC3hgUkrzVh3hCThKXc0&sharedid=&irpid=2959690&utm%5Fsource=impact&utm%5Flc=impact&utm%5Firpid=2959690&irgwc=1&afsrc=1) --- ## SBI Is the Story, Not the Round A $25 million Series A is a normal event in stablecoin infrastructure. What is not normal is how many Asian stablecoin rails SBI has appeared on in the past six weeks. SBI Digital Practice signed with Korean infrastructure firm Nodeinfra in August to build Project Musubi, a Japan-Korea payment network. On September 17 the same unit completed a Japan-Korea stablecoin proof-of-concept with Kyobo Life, converting a yen stablecoin directly into a won stablecoin. SBI is also Ripple's longest-standing Japanese partner and has an agreement with Ondo Finance to tokenize Japanese equities settled in its yen-backed JPYSC. It is also one of the eleven institutions validating Circle's new chain, which we covered in our report on the [Arc mainnet validators](https://stablecoininsider.org/arc-mainnet-live/). The pattern is a group buying positions across every layer of the regional stack rather than backing one bet. [![Arc Mainnet Is Live With BlackRock and DTCC Validating](https://storage.ghost.io/c/73/6a/736af0e4-2274-4543-a329-2952b2b52abc/content/images/2026/09/Screenshot-2026-09-18-at-16.18.19.png)](https://stablecoininsider.org/arc-mainnet-live/) ### The fund name is a clue The vehicle used here is the SBI-NTU-Kyobo Digital Innovation Fund. Kyobo appears again, one day after the Japan-Korea pilot, which suggests the Japan, Korea, and Singapore threads are being run from the same strategy rather than accumulated by coincidence. --- ## What dtcpay Actually Does The company handles digital asset conversion and custody, and runs a point-of-sale service that lets merchants accept stablecoin payments directly in store. It has partnered with Visa on a stablecoin-to-fiat Visa Infinite card available to customers in Singapore. Its pitch is the standard one in this category: correspondent banking settles in days through layered intermediary fees, and stablecoin rails settle faster and cheaper. dtcpay did not publish comparative cost or settlement figures alongside the raise. The competitive set is not only crypto-native, which is the part these pitches tend to leave out. Conventional cross-border business accounts already bundle multi-currency settlement with card programmes, and some return [2% cashback](https://gotrk1.com/o/click/e990477a-8caf-4c48-b803-9c5d95b92ce4/6db1bd91-983c-4984-8bf7-694679ee1eb8?p%5Fclick%5Fid=[CLICK%5FID]) on eligible transactions on the spend side. A merchant weighing stablecoin acceptance is usually comparing against that, not against correspondent banking in the abstract. [![Airwallex](https://storage.ghost.io/c/73/6a/736af0e4-2274-4543-a329-2952b2b52abc/content/images/2026/09/Screenshot-2026-09-18-at-16.18.44.png)](https://www.airwallex.com/en-us/ppc/corporate-cards?irclickid=Rgt1oJWMSxyZUoiRNvxgC3hgUkrzVlzdCThKXc0&sharedid=&irpid=2959690&irgwc=1&afsrc=1&utm%5Fsource=impact&utm%5Fmedium=affiliates&utm%5Fcampaign=Goloot&im%5Frewards=&srr=&utm%5Fcontent=2959690) --- ## The Licence Stack Is the Moat dtcpay holds a Major Payment Institution licence from the Monetary Authority of Singapore, which carries stricter requirements than a standard payment institution licence once a firm crosses certain transaction or stored-value thresholds. It also holds an Electronic Money Institution licence in Luxembourg, and has regulatory footprints in Hong Kong, Australia, and North America. That spread is the actual asset being funded. In a market where the binding constraint is jurisdictional permission rather than technology, a firm already authorised in several regimes is buying time that competitors cannot easily purchase. Its Hong Kong presence lands in a week when that jurisdiction committed to letting regulated stablecoins trade on licensed platforms and settle tokenized funds, which we covered in our report on the [Hong Kong Policy Address](https://stablecoininsider.org/hong-kong-policy-address-stablecoin-trading/). [![Hong Kong Will Let Regulated Stablecoins Trade and Settle Funds](https://storage.ghost.io/c/73/6a/736af0e4-2274-4543-a329-2952b2b52abc/content/images/2026/09/Screenshot-2026-09-18-at-16.19.14.png)](https://stablecoininsider.org/hong-kong-policy-address-stablecoin-trading/) --- ## What Was Not Disclosed No valuation, no revenue, no transaction volume, and no breakdown of how the $25 million splits across the three stated priorities. The size of SBI's own contribution was also withheld. That is normal for a Series A and worth stating plainly anyway. Funding rounds measure investor conviction, not usage, and nothing in this announcement says how much value moves through dtcpay today. --- ## The Japan to Southeast Asia Corridor The stated logic is a corridor for digital asset origination between Japan and Southeast Asia, built on regulated infrastructure at both ends. Singapore supplies the licensing and the merchant layer, Japan supplies the capital and the yen-denominated instruments. The Korea leg of that map is moving in parallel. Upbit listed PayPal USD and JPY Coin on September 17, putting a yen stablecoin onto Korea's largest exchange, which we covered in our report on the [PYUSD and JPYC listing](https://stablecoininsider.org/upbit-lists-pyusd-and-jpyc/). Non-dollar Asian stablecoin infrastructure is being assembled faster than it is being reported. [![Upbit Lists PYUSD and JPYC on KRW, BTC, and USDT Markets](https://storage.ghost.io/c/73/6a/736af0e4-2274-4543-a329-2952b2b52abc/content/images/2026/09/Screenshot-2026-09-18-at-16.19.58.png)](https://stablecoininsider.org/upbit-lists-pyusd-and-jpyc/) --- ## FAQs: ### 1\. How much did dtcpay raise and from whom? dtcpay completed a $25 million Series A announced on September 18, 2026\. Vertex Ventures Southeast Asia and India led the opening $10 million tranche earlier in the year, and SBI Group joined as strategic investor through SBI Ventures Asset Pte Ltd and the SBI-NTU-Kyobo Digital Innovation Fund, with Genedant Capital and Kwee Liong Tek also participating. ### 2\. What is dtcpay's valuation after the round? It was not disclosed. dtcpay and SBI declined to publish a valuation, the size of SBI's contribution, revenue figures, or how the capital will be split between the enterprise portal, app development, and merchant expansion. ### 3\. What licences does dtcpay hold? A Major Payment Institution licence from the Monetary Authority of Singapore, which carries stricter requirements than a standard payment institution licence above certain thresholds, and an Electronic Money Institution licence in Luxembourg. The company also has regulatory footprints in Hong Kong, Australia, and North America. ### 4\. What does dtcpay's product actually do? It provides digital asset conversion and custody, a point-of-sale service allowing merchants to accept stablecoin payments in store, and a Visa Infinite stablecoin-to-fiat card for customers in Singapore. The company positions these as faster and cheaper than correspondent banking settlement. ### 5\. Why does SBI Group's involvement matter? SBI has taken positions across most of Asia's emerging stablecoin infrastructure in recent weeks, including Project Musubi with Nodeinfra, a Japan-Korea stablecoin pilot with Kyobo Life, a tokenized equities agreement with Ondo Finance, and a founding validator seat on Circle's Arc network. SBI Ven Capital framed the dtcpay investment as building a Japan to Southeast Asia corridor. --- **Disclaimer:** *This content is provided for informational and educational purposes only and does not constitute financial, investment, legal, or tax advice; no material herein should be interpreted as a recommendation, endorsement, or solicitation to buy or sell any financial instrument, and readers should conduct their own independent research or consult a qualified professional.*