“Historical moment”, says Mr. Kitao – ODX “START opening ceremony” aims to reach 100 billion yen in a few years

Osaka Digital Exchange’s (ODX) private trading system “START” literally launched on December 25th as Japan’s first secondary market for security tokens (ST). On the same day, a ceremony was held in Osaka city.

At the ceremony, Yoshitaka Kitao, Representative Director, Chairman and President of SBI Holdings and Representative Director and Chairman of Osaka Digital Exchange, expressed his joy at the start of trading, calling it “a historic moment.” He added, “Security tokens are a new financial product for personal investment. I think it will be widely accepted at home and develop rapidly.” Furthermore, regarding future ST products, he said that there will be more products backed by utility tokens (UT) and renewable energy facilities, as well as collaboration with stable coins in corporate bond STs.

He also stated that the purpose of working on the Osaka Digital Exchange in the first place was to break away from the hyper-concentration of business in Tokyo, and globally to develop Osaka as an international financial city.

Next, Governor Yoshimura of Osaka prefecture gave a speech, noting that Osaka is a city of merchants and that Dojima’s rice market was a pioneer in futures trading globally, and said, “Digital securities using blockchain The creation of START is appropriate for Osaka, which is taking on new challenges,” he said, praising the opening of START. He went on to say that START will play an extremely important role in strengthening international financial functions ahead of the 2025 Osaka/Kansai Expo.

Afterwards, Ichigo Representative Executive Officer and President Takuma Hasegawa and Kenedix Executive Officer Akihiro Nakao took to the stage to represent the companies involved in the two stocks listed that day. Mr. Hasegawa said, “Through the launch of START, we hope to attract many investors and have them handle a wider range of small-lot real estate.” After that, “JThe market capitalization of REITs is over 20 trillion yen, and ST will grow in the same way.”

Mr. Nakao emphasized that the start of ST trading on ODX “symbolizes Japan’s digital securities market, which is at the forefront of the global market.” In addition to improving convenience and transparency in the ST secondary market, he stated that Japan’s investment environment will change significantly by improving the convenience unique to digital securities, such as payment coordination with stable coins.

Finally, Osaka Digital Exchange President and Representative Director Mr. Jinio Akira took the stage and gave an overview and outlook for START. Regarding ST issuance performance, he stated that the transaction volume in 2023 in particular increased significantly. especially. This is due to the emergence of large deals exceeding 10 billion yen and the increased frequency of issuance due to the efforts of each company. Currently, the total amount of STs issued has reached approximately 80 billion yen, and approximately 30 STs have been publicly issued.

He also pointed out that “the market will change significantly with the launch of START.” He explained that by constantly displaying market prices, “Investors have a sense of security that they can buy and sell anytime.” Even for investors who would normally hesitate to participate in the primary (issue) market, the hurdles to buying and selling are lowered in the secondary (issue) market. As a result, if investors enter the secondary market, they will also be encouraged to enter the primary market, stressing that “both markets can develop in a spiral.” As a milestone for START, he said that he would like to increase the market capitalization to 100 billion yen over the next few years.

The two stocks listed on that day were Kenedix Realty Token Dormy Inn Kobe Motomachi (digital name transfer method), which is jointly issued and operated by Kenedix, SMBC Trust Bank, and Daiwa Securities, and Ichigo, Mitsubishi UFJ. “Ichigo Residence Token – Shiba Koen, Higashi-Shinjuku, Metropolitan University, Monzennakacho, Takaido, Shinkoiwa – (digital name rewriting method)” is issued and operated by Trust Bank and SBI Securities in collaboration. The former uses “ibet for Fin” and the latter uses “Progmat” as the issuance platform.

｜Written and edited by Koki Mizuno and Takayuki Masuda
｜Image provided by: START PR Secretariat

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