Startale Group and Japan’s financial conglomerate SBI Holdings have launched Strium, a layer-1 blockchain built to support exchange-layer and settlement infrastructure for institutional trading of foreign exchange, tokenized equities and real-world assets (RWAs). The platform is designed as an exchange-layer network intended to bridge traditional off-chain finance and the on-chain ecosystem.
“Tokenization is an inevitable trend, and equities tokenization is clearly the next big market,” said Sota Watanabe, CEO of Startale Group. He said Strium aims to enable compliant dividend and royalty payments and to connect legacy financial systems with blockchain-native infrastructure.
The launch is the first major milestone since the two firms announced a strategic partnership in August 2025 and coincides with proof-of-concept demonstrations to validate the system’s technical foundations.
Strium will begin trading with synthetic versions of U.S. and Japanese stocks and commodities — derivative-style instruments that do not represent direct ownership of underlying shares. The platform plans to expand to tokenized representations of real shares and asset-backed tokens that users can access after completing identity checks and meeting local regulations. A separate open layer will permit participation by users who do not meet those requirements.
The proof-of-concept phase is testing settlement efficiency, resilience under heavy transaction loads and interoperability with both legacy financial systems and other blockchain networks. A public testnet is planned as the next step toward commercial deployment.
Watanabe noted SBI Holdings brings regulated financial infrastructure and multiple licensed entities to the joint venture. Group entities have participated in regulated digital-asset initiatives, including a planned yen stablecoin structure involving Shinsei Trust & Banking and SBI VC Trade. Discussions with regulators, including in Japan, are expected as the project expands into individual markets.
The move follows broader industry activity: the New York Stock Exchange and Intercontinental Exchange said they are building a platform for tokenized stocks and ETFs that would offer 24/7 trading and instant settlement using blockchain-based post-trade infrastructure and stablecoins, subject to regulatory approval. A recent Sygnum report observed that traditional financial institutions are moving toward blockchain-based infrastructure, with tokenization expected to go mainstream in 2026.
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