Aplus and SBI VC Trade launch Japan’s first point-to-crypto program, letting users earn XRP, BTC and ETH from everyday spending. On July 8, 2025, Aplus, a credit card and financial services company under Japan’s Shinsei Bank Group, collaborated with SBI VC Trade, the cryptocurrency exchange division of SBI Holdings, to introduce a pioneering rewards program. For the first time, cryptocurrencies have been incorporated as redeemable assets within the Aplus Points program. If you are an Aplus credit cardholder, you can now convert your reward points into cryptocurrencies, including XRP (XRP), Bitcoin (BTC) and Ether (ETH). This makes Aplus the first major Japanese loyalty program to enable direct conversion of points to cryptocurrencies. Read more
China’s Chang’an blockchain hits 100K TPS — but don’t mention “crypto”, Japan’s Minna Bank looks to issue stablecoins on Solana, Asia Express Beijings state media is rallying behind Changan Chain, a homegrown blockchain infrastructure hailed as a solution to Chinas root problem of digital sovereignty. A profile on Qianlong.com credits researcher Dong Jin and his team for building a fully open-source and state-backed blockchain stack now powering national digital projects. Though little-known outside China, Changan Chain has gone through 21 iterations over six years and now claims to handle over 100,000 transactions per second a benchmark often cited by next-generation blockchains aiming to match the scale of traditional financial networks. It is reportedly being used in Chinas nationwide real estate registration system and by companies to digitize supply contracts, allowing banks to verify supplier relationships and accelerate loan approvals. Read more
Gates Inc. and Oasys’s partnership is one of Japan’s largest real estate tokenization projects, with phase 1 aiming to expand liquidity to $34 billion. Japanese real estate investment firm Gates Inc. will tokenize $75 million worth of central Tokyo properties on the Oasys blockchain, marking one of the country’s largest real estate tokenization initiatives to date. The partnership, announced Wednesday, represents a major step for both companies. Gates plans to eventually tokenize over $200 billion in assets — about 1% of Japan’s real estate market — while Oasys continues expanding beyond its gaming roots into real-world asset (RWA) tokenization. Gates, which generated $145 million in 2024 revenue and was listed on the Financial Times’ “High-Growth Companies Asia-Pacific 2023” list, is currently conducting a Nasdaq roadshow after filing its F-1 prospectus. Read more
In a significant step to strengthen national stability, the Japanese government has approved a revised disaster mitigation plan designed to decrease the disastrous impact of a potential Nankai Trough earthquake. The plan was permitted during a Central Disaster Management Council meeting held on Tuesday at the official residence of the Prime Minister. The revised plan […]
Japan executed a man on Friday who killed nine people after contacting them on social media, the first use of capital punishment in the country in nearly three years. Takahiro Shiraishi had been sentenced to death for his 2017 strangling and dismembering of eight women and one man in his apartment in Zama city in […]