SBI Group, Chainlink partner to bring crypto tech to Asia’s finance scene

Japanese finance conglomerate SBI Group has partnered with the blockchain oracle platform Chainlink to create a host of crypto tools for Asia’s financial institutions.

SBI said on Sunday that its collaboration with Chainlink will focus on “a number of key use cases for financial institutions in Japan and the APAC [Asia-Pacific] region,” with its initial attention on Japan’s market.

The pair will look at tools to allow cross-blockchain tokenized real-world assets (RWAs), like onchain bonds, and use Chainlink’s technology to give onchain verification for stablecoin reserves, among other plans.

It marks the fourth crypto partnership for SBI Group in the past few days after it announced tie-ups with stablecoin issuer Circle Internet Group, crypto firm Ripple Labs and the Web3 infrastructure firm Startale on Friday.

Chainlink to back tech for finance

SBI added that its deal with Chainlink would see the firm use its flagship blockchain interoperability protocol for a host of use cases, including tokenizing RWAs and helping to facilitate foreign exchange and cross-border transactions.

“I am excited to see our great work move towards a state of production usage at a large scale,” said Chainlink co-founder Sergey Nazarov, adding his firm has long been helping SBI build stablecoin settlement use cases and “very advanced fund tokenization.”

The pair also said it would use Chainlink’s data feed tools to “bring net asset value (NAV) data onchain for tokenized funds,” and would look to give tools to give onchain verifications for stablecoin reserves.

SBI Holdings chair, president and CEO Yoshitaka Kitao said the two companies would also work on “powering compliant cross-border transactions using stablecoins, that accelerate the widespread adoption of digital assets in Japan and the region.”

This is a developing story, and further information will be added as it becomes available.