Japan Shifts Towards Integrated Onchain Financial System

The Japanese crypto market is shifting towards an integrated onchain financial system, according to Exilist's analysis of WebX 2026. This system combines stablecoins, real-world assets (RWA), AI-driven operations, privacy tooling, and compliance-ready regulatory infrastructure.

Executives from various companies, including Startale Group, BitGo, bitFlyer, and SBI VC Trade, emphasized the importance of building blocks such as clear rules, custody standards, settlement rails, and a viable stablecoin foundation. Abel from BitGo highlighted tokenized equities and stablecoins as key growth engines.

Stablecoins are being understood as assets designed to solve real-world financial frictions, with potential expansion into payments, settlement, corporate treasury management, and cross-border remittances. SBI VC Trade's Mio Yonenaga emphasized that regulation and compliance will determine how far the market can scale.

The analysis suggests that these themes should not be read as competing fads, but rather as complementary components of an integrated onchain financial system. Stablecoins provide onchain cash, RWA and tokenized equities bring investable assets onchain, DeFi and derivatives connect them through collateral and liquidity, AI automates operations and risk management, and privacy and compliance mechanisms create the conditions required for institutions to participate at scale.

Stablecoins appear to have a clear near-term commercialization track in Japan, with experiments spanning consumer payments and corporate settlement. SBI VC Trade announced a lending service tied to its trust-based yen stablecoin, JPYSC, which has been positioned as more than issuance, aiming to connect Japanese financial rails with global onchain markets.

The analysis also highlighted RWA and tokenized stocks as the second structural pillar of onchain finance. Tokenized equities have an aggregate distributed issuance value of $1.86 billion, monthly transfer volume near $8 billion, and about 670,000 holders. The growth rate and structural advantages of tokenized stocks are increasingly difficult to ignore.

AI was framed less as a new token-driven story and more as a transformation in how financial firms operate. AI is already being used for routine tasks such as drafting internal documents and organizing materials, reducing compliance overhead in Japan. A 'second phase' of AI involves automated asset management, where AI agents analyze market data, adjust portfolio weights, and manage positions.