SBI Acquires 20% Stake in Ajaib for $270M to Expand JPYSC in Southeast Asia

Huo Xing Finance reports that Japanese financial giant SBI Holdings plans to acquire a 20% stake in Indonesian online brokerage Ajaib Group for $270 million before the end of this month, to expand the circulation of its yen-stablecoin JPYSC in Southeast Asia and leverage blockchain technology to build cross-border settlement infrastructure. Ajaib provides SBI with a foothold in the Indonesian market, one of ASEAN’s largest retail investment markets, with over 20 million retail investors and an estimated consumer retail market size of $375 billion. Ajaib operates online brokerage, forex margin trading, cryptocurrency, and asset management services in Indonesia. This $270 million transaction is among the largest tech financings in Indonesia in recent years. SBI’s Chairman and President, Yoshitaka Kitao, stated that in the era of tokenization, the importance of global digital asset infrastructure is growing increasingly prominent. This investment is part of SBI’s broader strategy in Southeast Asia, following its earlier acquisition of Singapore-based cryptocurrency exchange Coinhako for approximately $100 million and its investment in Singapore’s digital securities trading platform DigiFT. The Japanese government has also recently announced plans to build a blockchain infrastructure for stocks and government bonds, with on-chain 24/7 settlement potentially launching in the early 2030s.