Nikkei detailed that the three-month pilot applies to ordinary savings accounts and time deposits ranging from three months to five years. If the program performs as expected, SBI Shinsei plans to roll it out as a permanent feature of eligible deposit accounts this fall.
How the Rewards Work
Depositors continue to receive standard yen-denominated interest on their accounts. On top of that, they receive exchange vouchers valued at 20% of the interest earned. Those vouchers can be redeemed for bitcoin (BTC), ether (ETH), or XRP at SBI VC Trade, the group’s licensed crypto exchange, at the prevailing market rate at the time of redemption.
To participate, customers must hold or open an account with SBI VC Trade. The redemption window is limited to a designated period after vouchers are issued.
What Depositors Can Expect to Earn
The amounts are modest at smaller deposit sizes. A ¥300,000 deposit generates vouchers worth roughly ¥500. A ¥30 million deposit could yield vouchers worth around ¥20,000.
The structure is designed to give depositors optional crypto exposure without requiring them to buy digital assets directly on an exchange.
SBI Group’s Broader Crypto Push
SBI Shinsei Bank is the banking arm of SBI Group, a major Japanese financial conglomerate that has built one of the country’s most integrated crypto ecosystems. SBI VC Trade handles spot trading and services including USDC lending. SBI Securities offers crypto investment trusts and funds. In May 2026, the group launched the SBI VISA Crypto Card in partnership with Aplus and Visa, automatically converting card points to BTC, ETH, or XRP.
The group’s SBI Hyper Deposit product surpassed ¥1.3 trillion in balance by March 2026, and the bank has previously run one-off campaigns offering XRP or crypto vouchers tied to new accounts and fixed deposits.
This program differs from those in one key way: it embeds crypto rewards into ongoing interest payments rather than treating them as a promotional event.
Japan’s Regulatory Context
Japan licenses crypto exchanges, and regulators have been advancing rules around stablecoins and tokenized assets. SBI Group has been active in both areas, with tokenized deposit exploration through the DCJPY project and stablecoin preparations via Startale and Shinsei Trust and Banking.
The deposit rewards program fits a pattern of Japanese financial firms using familiar products to bring conservative customers into the digital asset space.
Key Considerations
A few factors depositors should weigh before participating:
- Voucher value shifts with crypto prices between issuance and redemption.
- Participation requires a separate SBI VC Trade account with standard KYC requirements.
- Yen interest income is taxable in Japan. Crypto received through vouchers may carry separate capital gains implications upon conversion or sale.
- The yen interest portion remains protected under standard deposit insurance. The crypto vouchers do not carry that same protection.
SBI Shinsei Bank has not yet published an official press release at the time of publication. Full program terms are expected to be available through the bank’s website and SBI VC Trade directly when the pilot launches on June 10.
