SoftBank owned PayPay acquires 40% stake in Binance Japan

Japan’s largest mobile payments platform PayPay has acquired a 40% stake in Binance Japan to jointly develop integrated digital asset services and improve access to Web3 finance across the country.

PayPay, which is a SoftBank Corp. group company with over 70 million users, has entered into a capital and business alliance that hopes to leverage PayPay’s extensive user base and expertise, and Binance’s blockchain technology to advance the integration of cashless payments with digital assets, an Oct. 9 announcement from Binance said.

As a part of the agreement, PayPay has acquired a 40% equity stake in Binance Japan, and will allow the exchange’s customers to purchase cryptocurrencies and withdraw sale proceeds directly via PayPay Money, the company’s digital wallet service used for cashless payments and peer‑to‑peer transfers.

“By investing in Binance Japan, the Japanese subsidiary of Binance, the world’s largest digital asset exchange by trading volume, we will provide Binance users with solutions that combine the convenience and security of PayPay,” Masayoshi Yanase, Corporate Officer of PayPay Corporation, said in an accompanying statement.

Down the line, both companies plan to develop other “innovative products and services,” the announcement noted, without disclosing any further details.

Last month, local media reports suggested that PayPay was considering expanding its services beyond Japan, starting with South Korea, with plans for expansion across other regions like Taiwan, Hawaii, and China. Back in August, PayPay announced plans to debut on the US stock market.

The latest partnership has resonated well within the BNB community, with many participants hoping this major development is the catalyst that could push the token back into price discovery once again, especially after former Binance CEO and co-founder Changpeng Zhao directly referenced BNB while sharing the news on X.

BNB rallied over 4% from intraday lows after the news broke. When writing, it was trading less than 2% below its all-time high price of $1,330.51 reached on Oct. 8, on the back of significant growth of its memecoin ecosystem, and other project-specific developments and partnerships.

SoftBank’s crypto connection

For the SoftBank Group, this is not the first foray into the digital assets space. SoftBank owns a minority stake in the newly launched bitcoin investment company Twenty One Capital alongside stablecoin issuer Tether, crypto exchange Bitfinex, financial services firm Cantor Fitzgerald, and Strike CEO Jack Mallers.

Last month, Bloomberg reported that the SoftBank Group had initiated talks over joining Tether Holdings’ upcoming funding round, which could potentially value the stablecoin issuer as high as $500 billion.