South Korean blockchain infrastructure firm DSRV said it has signed an agreement to provide staking infrastructure to Japan-based crypto exchange SBI VC Trade, marking a notable step in its push into one of the world’s most tightly regulated digital asset markets.
DSRV, led by co-CEOs Ji-yoon Kim and Byung-yoon Seo, announced on Tuesday UTC that it will participate as a service provider supporting SBI VC Trade’s staking operations. The deal positions DSRV to supply the backend infrastructure that enables exchanges to offer staking—an on-chain process where users lock tokens to help secure a network and earn rewards—in a way that meets operational and compliance requirements.
SBI VC Trade is a digital asset exchange registered with Japan’s Financial Services Agency (FSA) and operates under SBI Group, one of Japan’s best-known financial conglomerates. The exchange offers trading and custody services for retail users as well as institutional and corporate clients, and has expanded its profile in recent months by supporting Bitcoin (BTC) trading, custody, and related operations for Metaplanet, a Japanese listed company widely discussed in the region as a major corporate holder of BTC.
Japan is widely viewed by industry participants as a high-barrier market due to stringent licensing standards, detailed operational requirements, and close supervisory oversight. For infrastructure providers, these conditions raise the stakes around service continuity, security controls, and governance—areas that exchanges and their vendors must demonstrate to maintain customer trust and satisfy regulators.
DSRV framed the SBI VC Trade partnership as a validation of its ‘operational stability’ and ‘regulatory readiness’ built through years of running blockchain nodes and providing staking services. “In digital asset business, the most important benchmarks are stable operational capability and an understanding of the regulatory environment,” said DSRV COO Ji-yoon Jung, adding that the company plans to broaden its competitiveness in Japan and other global markets on the back of infrastructure reliability it says has been proven over time.
The company describes itself as Asia’s largest operator in the validator segment and said it has maintained more than six years of incident-free operations. DSRV also said it strengthened its regulated business footing after obtaining a VASP license in 2024, and recently introduced an institutional platform called ‘DSRV Portal (Portal)’, which packages payments, settlement, and custody features into a single suite intended for financial institutions and enterprises exploring on-chain finance.
Industry observers note that partnerships between exchanges and specialized staking infrastructure providers have become increasingly common as operators seek to reduce technical complexity while tightening risk controls. In markets like Japan, where compliance expectations are high, the ability to demonstrate robust uptime, security processes, and clear accountability can be as important as product breadth.
DSRV said it plans to use Portal as a hub to expand collaborations with companies across sectors and sizes preparing to enter on-chain financial services, with the SBI VC Trade deal serving as an early reference point for growth in regulated overseas jurisdictions.