SBI Shinsei Offers Crypto Vouchers to Deposit Customers

SBI Shinsei Bank will launch a three-month campaign starting Wednesday that gives deposit customers cryptocurrency exchange vouchers equal to 20% of their interest payments. The vouchers can be redeemed for Bitcoin (BTC), Ether (ETH) or XRP if customers open an account with SBI VC Trade.

Depositors will receive their regular yen-denominated interest and, in addition, vouchers worth 20% of those interest payments. Vouchers are issued in proportion to interest paid and are separate from customers’ principal deposits and the yen interest credited to accounts. Customers must open an SBI VC Trade account to redeem vouchers within a specified redemption period.

The initial campaign covers ordinary deposits and time deposits with terms ranging from three months to five years.

Vouchers allow customers to convert part of their interest income into cryptocurrency without making a separate purchase on an exchange. Redemption windows, eligibility criteria and any limits on voucher issuance have not been fully disclosed.

The voucher program follows several recent initiatives by SBI Group in digital assets. On March 18, SBI VC Trade launched a retail USDC lending service that lets users lend the stablecoin to the exchange under fixed-term agreements; that product is structured as a loan to the exchange, meaning users assume direct counterparty risk. The group has also absorbed Bitpoint Japan and said on May 1 it was considering acquiring shares in the Bitbank trading platform. SBI Securities is preparing to offer crypto-focused investment products developed by SBI Global Asset Management, including investment trusts and exchange-traded funds targeting assets such as BTC and ETH.

Customers interested in the deposit voucher campaign should confirm specific terms with SBI Shinsei Bank or SBI VC Trade and review the risks of holding or redeeming cryptocurrency, including market volatility and counterparty considerations.