SBI DigiTrust, NICE and DSRV Japan-Korea stablecoin QR payment pilot

A pilot in which Japanese travelers scan QR codes to pay with stablecoins at NICE merchants in Korea is due to finish around the end of December 2026. The timing is tentative, and no specific coin has been named.

What is happening

SBI DigiTrust, the blockchain arm of Japan's SBI group, has signed a basic agreement with Korea's NICE Information & Telecommunication and the Korean blockchain firm DSRV. Together they are testing a payment flow in which a Japanese traveler scans a QR code with a phone at a NICE-affiliated shop in Korea and pays with a stablecoin. The agreement was announced on 1 October.

The roles are divided. SBI DigiTrust designs the payment plan using Japanese regulatory and financial know-how, NICE contributes its Korean payment operations and merchant network, and DSRV studies the technical requirements and system connections. NICE is described as Korea's largest payment company, supporting about 1.2 million shops nationwide.

The pilot examines how money moves from a Japanese user to a Korean shop, what instructions trigger the payment and how the systems connect. The announcement does not say which stablecoin will be used or how many shops will take part. The test is expected to wrap up around the end of December 2026, and the exact day has not been confirmed.

Why it matters

The pilot is an early, small-scale attempt to connect Japanese stablecoin users with Korea's retail payment infrastructure. According to the announcement, its results will only inform a later decision on commercial use, and costs and expected transaction sizes are part of that review. It is an experiment, not a product launch.

For holders and traders, the practical point is that no coin, launch date or merchant count has been promised, and the regulatory framework for such coins in Korea is still under discussion. A related but separate agreement between SBI Holdings and KB Kookmin Card, covering identity checks for AI agents and a study of crypto payments for Japanese visitors, is a different project and not part of this pilot. Any conclusions should wait for the published results rather than assume a rollout.

Key details

• Date: expected to finish around the end of December 2026 (month precision, tentative)
• Project: SBI DigiTrust, with NICE Information & Telecommunication and DSRV
• Coins: not specified
• Category: Event
• Status: tentative
• Source: SBI Group release (https://www.sbigroup.co.jp/news/pdf/group/2026/1001_a.pdf); Coingabbar report (https://www.coingabbar.com/en/japan-korea-stablecoin-ai-agent-checks-tourist-crypto-payments)