As per Nikkei news edition, the Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group (SMFG) and SBI have rolled out the preliminary measures towards a deal worth several millions of dollars, anticipated to be inked this week, before Golden Week banking holidays begin in Japan.
Two months later, SMFG will purchase a 20% stake worth billions of yen in NeoMobile Securities, a subsidiary of SBI. By the end of 2020, SMFG will invest in SBI in order to set up a new $1 billion fund focused on investing in enterprises having operations related to digital technology.
The new fund will study sectors such as blockchain, fintech and 5G for investment.
SBI is well known for its favorable approach towards XRP. The company’s CEO Yoshitaka Kitao is on the Ripple’s board of directors, and also has friendship with Craig Wright, who claims to be the Bitcoin creator Satoshi Nakamoto.
The company even looked at the option of paying shareholder dividends in XRP tokens.
SBI Mining Chip, another associate company of SBI, has begun manufacturing cryptocurrency mining hardware last year.
The collaboration between SBI and SMFG reflects the enthusiasm of both firms about digital currencies. Notably, new cryptocurrency rules are going to become effective on May 1 in Japan.
Last year, Japan’s House of Representatives passed the Payment Services Act and Financial Instruments and Exchange Act. Both laws are amendments to prevailing laws for cryptocurrency regulation in Japan.