Osaka Pilot Puts Blockchain at the Centre of Export Factoring

SBI XDC Network APAC, printing and digital services group TOPPAN, and crypto infrastructure firm Ginco are jointly running a trade finance demonstration in Osaka, Japan. The project has received backing through Osaka Prefecture's FY2026 financial market formation subsidy, a government programme designed to encourage fintech and blockchain innovation within the region.

The demonstration focuses on export factoring, a financing method that allows businesses to unlock cash from outstanding trade receivables before a buyer pays. The pilot examines how recording trade transaction data and corporate identity information on the XDC Network can reduce friction in this process for local businesses, cutting down the document-heavy manual steps that slow cross-border deals.

SBI XDC Network APAC is a joint venture between SBI Holdings and TradeFinex Tech Ltd., the UAE-based company that operates the XDC Network. TOPPAN plays a particularly relevant role in the pilot given that its group company, TOPPAN Edge, became Japan's first Qualified vLEI Issuer (QVI) in the verifiable Legal Entity Identifier (vLEI) ecosystem in September 2025, giving it a key function in issuing verifiable digital corporate identity certificates for participants in the demonstration.

In international transactions and finance, it has previously been difficult to verify that a company actually exists and who its representatives are. The Osaka demonstration aims to address exactly that gap by anchoring corporate identity data to the blockchain.

Government Backing Reflects Osaka's Fintech Push

Beyond export factoring, the project also targets improvements to Know Your Business (KYB) verification, customer inquiry handling, and payment collection, three processes that remain largely manual for many smaller Japanese exporters.

The subsidy underpinning the project fits into a wider regional strategy. Osaka promotes financial innovation by providing subsidies and other assistance for the demonstration of pioneering financial services, in order to foster the formation of innovative financial products and markets. In March 2025, new goals were set for Phase 2, covering FY2026 to FY2030, including targets to attract 50 foreign financial companies, create 1,200 startups, and raise 160 billion yen. The SBI XDC and TOPPAN collaboration sits squarely within that agenda.

For the $XDC ecosystem, the Osaka pilot represents a concrete step toward institutional adoption in Japan, one of Asia's most significant trade finance markets.

Sources
TOPPAN Holdings: SBI XDC Network APAC and TOPPAN Conduct a PoC of Online Factoring Workflow
Osaka Prefectural Government: Advancing Its Challenge to Become a Global Financial City
GLEIF: TOPPAN Edge Confirmed as First Japanese Qualified vLEI Issuer