A powerful consortium comprising Japan’s major securities firms, led by SBI Holdings, and trust banks, will fundamentally reshape equity trading.
Beginning in 2026, Japanese retail and institutional investors can trade tokenized versions of public company shares 24/7, with minimum purchase sizes as low as 1 Japanese yen (JPY). The rollout marks one of the most significant regulated applications of blockchain technology in traditional finance to date.
SponsoredJapan Builds the World’s Largest Regulated On-Chain Equity Market
The initiative involves transforming traditional listed equities into Security Tokens (STs) and enabling their trading on an industry-wide infrastructure. The consortium is tokenizing existing corporate shares, an asset class measured in trillions of dollars.
Moreover, clear regulatory frameworks for digital securities make Japan a standout, enabling institutional players to participate within existing compliance structures. As one analyst noted on X:
“RWA Regulation 101: US: GENIUS Act → stablecoins; UK: building a full FSMA-based crypto regime; UAE: already licensing tokenized real estate; Asia: corridor pilots & AML-first rules. What else?”
New Features Redefine Liquidity and Accessibility
The proposed system challenges established market norms. These typically require stock purchases in 100-share units or other minimum lot sizes, often restricting access for smaller, retail investors. The digital securities system introduces unprecedented fractional ownership and liquidity levels by setting the minimum investment threshold at just JPY 1 and enabling continuous, round-the-clock trading.
Therefore, the initiative is a strategic effort by Japan’s finance sector to align its offerings with the expectations of the digital generation and encourage a widespread transition from savings to investment.
For instance, the perceived scarcity of regulated 24/7 on-chain equity trading venues worldwide further highlights the significance of the Japanese initiative.
“There is no other venue in the world where you can trade equities onchain, 24/7. This will be the only way hundreds of millions of households get exposure. Massive rerating of global markets incoming.”@ThinkingUSD commented.
A Blueprint for Global RWA Adoption
Industry experts expect global regulators and exchanges to scrutinize Japan’s model. Unlike isolated tokenization pilots elsewhere, this initiative is industry-wide, backed by banking giants, and integrated with regulated market infrastructure.
If successful, it may become the global playbook for bringing traditional securities on-chain at scale—bridging conventional markets with digital rails and accelerating real-world asset (RWA) adoption.
