Japan’s SBI Holdings invests $50 million in Circle

In a lucrative initial public offering (IPO) on the New York Stock Exchange on Thursday and Friday, Circle Internet Group stock soared, with the stablecoin issuer seeing a sizable investment from Japan’s financial services giant, SBI Holdings. Tokyo-based mega-business SBI Holdings has reportedly invested $50 million in Circle Internet Group’s stock, via its launch Thursday on the New York Stock Exchange. SBI and Circle already enjoy an active partnership, and the Japanese financial services company is looking to expand the use of Circle’s dollar-pegged stablecoin, USDC. The stablecoin launched on the SBI VC Trade platform in March.

Bullish on the future of the stablecoin, SBI previously stated: “Through the handling of USDC, we will provide customers with access to digital US dollars and promote efficient and cost-effective electronic payment methods in line with the development of the digital economy.” Shares of CRCL more than doubled across June 5 and 6, with trading starting at around $60/share and tapping $120 on Friday. SBI’s grab is said to consist of about 5% of the 34,000,000 Class A common stock shares offered up. SBI is also notably involved with XRP and Ripple, the extremely popular market-cap leading digital currency, and its issuer, and has backed Solana NFT (non-fungible token) initiatives in Japan.