The banking arm of Japanese financial giant SBI Holdings is reportedly launching a crypto rewards program for depositors as part of a broader push to expand its digital assets business.
SBI Shinsei Launches BTC, ETH, XRP Rewards
SBI Shinsei Bank, the banking arm of Japan’s SBI Group, will reportedly launch a program this fall that rewards depositors with cryptocurrency vouchers, based on their account balances, Nikkei first reported on Monday.
According to local news outlets, depositors will receive exchange vouchers equal to 20% of their deposit interest payments, redeemable for Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH), or XRP “within a certain period,” with conversion based on market rates at the time of execution.
The bank will hold a three-month trial campaign starting June 10. The campaign will reportedly apply to fixed-term deposits and savings accounts with maturities ranging from three months to five years.
Deposits of 300,000 yen will receive a voucher worth about 500 yen, while deposits of 30 million yen or more will earn roughly 20,000 yen in vouchers. SBI Shinsei is set to take customer feedback to shape the final structure of the service, evaluating account openings and usage before deciding on a permanent rollout this fall.
While offering digital assets as a permanent deposit product is highly unusual, the program aims to attract new customers to the group’s crypto business, SBI VC Trade, using bank deposits as the entry point.
Notably, the number of individual deposit accounts currently stands at approximately 4.33 million, the reports added, and customers will reportedly be required to open an SBI VC Trade account to exchange their vouchers.
In February, SBI Shinsei Bank and SBI VC Trade ran a campaign offering up to 20,000 yen in XRP exchange vouchers, based on the total amount deposited in Power Direct yen time deposits.
SBI Group Expands Crypto Push
SBI Group has been accelerating its crypto expansion, rolling out new products while deepening its footprint in both trading and investment services. In March, SBI VC Trade introduced a retail USDC lending service, allowing users to lend stablecoins under fixed-term agreements in exchange for returns.
In May, SBI VC Trade, APLUS, and Visa Worldwide Japan introduced the SBI Visa Crypto Card, which converts spending rewards into BTC, ETH, or XRP. The card integrates with SBI Securities’ investment services, enabling automated crypto accumulation tied to monthly investment activity.
SBI Securities, alongside Rakuten Securities, is developing crypto investment trusts for direct sale to individual investors. Meanwhile, SBI has partnered with Startale Group to build a blockchain for tokenized stocks and launched JPYSC, a yen-backed stablecoin.
The group has also moved to consolidate its position in Japan’s crypto exchange market, formally submitting a letter of intent to acquire a stake in Bitbank, one of Japan’s top regulated exchanges, to make it a consolidated subsidiary, following the integration of Bitpoint Japan into SBI VC Trade.
In addition, SBI has outlined plans to launch crypto-based exchange-traded funds (ETFs), filing for a combined Bitcoin and XRP ETF on the Tokyo Stock Exchange, targeting $32 billion in assets within three years, and a “Digital Gold Crypto” ETF that would allocate 51% to gold and 49% to digital assets.
