SoftBank Group company PayPay, one of Japan’s largest digital payment apps, has acquired a 40% stake in Binance Japan as part of a new strategic partnership aimed at combining cashless payments with access to cryptocurrencies.
The move brings together PayPay’s 70 million users and its extensive merchant network with Binance’s blockchain infrastructure, integrating PayPay Money, a smartphone-based digital wallet, into Binance Japan to allow users to purchase cryptocurrencies and withdraw funds through the wallet.
The companies plan to co-develop products that will allow users to seamlessly buy, sell and store digital assets, according to an announcement.
“This strategic alliance represents an important step towards the future of digital finance in Japan,” said Takeshi Chino, Managing Director of Binance Japan.
“By combining PayPay’s wide user base with Binance’s innovative technology, we will be able to make Web3 more accessible to people across the country and provide secure and transparent digital asset services. Binance Japan will continue to drive the growth of the Web3 ecosystem in Japan,” added Chino.
The move comes as Japan increasingly embraces cryptocurrencies, with several publicly traded companies in the country now operating Bitcoin treasuries. The largest of these companies, Metaplanet, owns 30,823 BTC at the time of writing.
Japanese startup JPYC reportedly plans to issue the first yen-pegged stablecoin this year.
