SBI and Nodeinfra Plan a Japan to Korea Stablecoin Payment Network on Canton
The Musubi Project aims to settle yen against won in a single atomic step, starting with test tokens, instead of routing payments through the US dollar.
SBI Digital Practice Co., Ltd., a Tokyo-based member of Japan's SBI Group, and Nodeinfra Inc., a Korean developer of digital asset software for financial institutions, announced on 7 August 2026 that they plan to build a cross-border payment and settlement network between Japan and Korea on the Canton Network. The two companies said they had decided to enter into a memorandum of understanding and to develop the network jointly. SBI Digital Practice describes itself as newly established to focus on Canton-related business.
The Musubi Project
- What it is. A member-owned cross-border payment network on Canton that uses stablecoins.
- Core features. Atomic payment-versus-payment (PvP) settlement, distributed peer netting and self-governance by members.
- The problem it targets. According to the release, payments between the two countries today settle one after the other through a US dollar vehicle, which leaves inefficiency and settlement risk in place.
- First step. An initial testing phase will settle a yen-denominated test token against a won-denominated test token in real time and simultaneously. Regulated stablecoins are to follow as the frameworks in Japan and Korea allow.
- Later. The companies plan to add other currencies, jurisdictions and asset classes.
Who does what
SBI Digital Practice is building the integration layers that connect traditional financial systems to the network and will use the SBI Group's network to bring in Japanese financial institutions. Nodeinfra leads the core settlement protocol, the Daml smart contracts and developer tooling, drawing on its experience operating Canton validators, and will support the onboarding of Korean institutions and custodians.
SBI Digital Practice's representative director, Ryo Shimotsu, said the project will "set a new standard for payment infrastructure linking Japan and Korea."
What is not yet in place
Commercial use depends on stablecoins that do not yet circulate freely in either country, Ledger Insights noted. SBI's yen stablecoin JPYSC, launched in June through SBI Shinsei Trust Bank, was still limited to the SBI VC Trade platform pending regulatory and tax clarification, and Korea's stablecoin legislation had not been enacted. crypto.news reported that no commercial launch date, participating banks or won stablecoin issuer had been announced.
Why it matters
Much of Canton's tokenization news in 2026 has centred on US Treasuries and dollar stablecoins. Musubi targets a different problem, foreign-exchange settlement risk between two Asian currencies, and it comes from a large Japanese financial group that has set up a company dedicated to Canton. For now it is a memorandum with test tokens, and the timeline depends on regulators in both countries.
