Sota Watanabe is the CEO of Startale Group, a global crypto infrastructure company building the onchain stack for finance, entertainment, and consumer applications. A prominent figure in Japan's crypto ecosystem, he has worked closely with the Japanese government on the national Web3 strategy. He was named to Forbes Asia 30 Under 30 in 2022 and to Newsweek's 100 Most Respected Japanese in the World in 2023.
As the digital asset industry matures, the friction of managing fragmented wallets, multiple gas tokens, and disconnected blockchains is becoming a massive barrier to mainstream adoption.
We recently sat down with Sota Watanabe, CEO of Startale Group, to discuss how his team is solving this exact problem by building a fully integrated, compliant onchain stack for global finance.
In this interview, he explains the absolute necessity of vertical integration, the strategic importance of the JPYSC stablecoin, and how Japan’s strict regulatory discipline is shaping the future of enterprise blockchain infrastructure. Read more below.
What was the Web3 ecosystem in Japan like in 2019, and what gap were you trying to fill when you founded Astar?
In 2019, crypto in Japan was still living in the shadow of Mt. Gox and the Coincheck hack. The Financial Services Agency had sharply tightened custody and listing rules. Most people still viewed crypto as highly risky and speculative. Developers could deploy on Ethereum, yet there was absolutely no Japan-originated chain designed around local use cases and compliance.
That presented a massive gap. Japan possesses real structural advantages, including intellectual property, gaming, anime, and iconic brands. However, the rails to bring that culture onchain securely for Japanese institutions simply did not exist. The consensus at the time suggested that Japanese regulation made a public blockchain project unworkable. I took that as a clear signal to start building.
Astar became Japan's first major public blockchain. Today, it anchors a multichain Astar Collective spanning Polkadot and Soneium. That successful outcome convinced me the original thesis was absolutely correct.
Astar became Japan's first major public blockchain. What did building within the Polkadot ecosystem teach you about where the real infrastructure battles would be fought?
I often think of Polkadot as a blockchain university. Working alongside Gavin Wood and the Parity team taught me that the real battle is about interoperability. An isolated chain inevitably starves. Users, liquidity, and developers flow exactly where connections are densest.
That lesson explains why Astar operates today as a Collective spanning Polkadot via Astar Network and Ethereum via Soneium, with ASTR moving seamlessly between them via Chainlink CCIP. It also served as the seed for Startale.
Interoperability requires owning the stack end-to-end. Tesla built cars alongside batteries, software, and the Supercharger network because those tight integrations define the true product. Startale applies the same playbook to Web3.
We align the chain, stablecoins, wallet, and app into a single vertically integrated system. The chains that survive the next five years will be those that make themselves highly useful and connected to other networks.
You've worked closely with the Japanese government on the national Web3 strategy. Where has that engagement most directly shaped what Startale is building?
My focus is entirely on seamless integration and practical application. Japanese brands need to trust that systems work flawlessly and that residents are adequately educated and protected. That requirement led directly to our focus on building compliant infrastructure.
Japan’s stablecoin regulations are among the clearest and most favourable globally because I and others had the privilege of contributing to the regulatory conversation alongside policymakers. That clarity directly influenced our decision to build enterprise-ready financial infrastructure for the long term.
At what point did you become convinced that Startale had to own the full stack?
It was a slow realisation, born of the severe friction in the crypto user journey. The hassle of managing private keys, bridging tokens across multiple blockchains, and paying gas fees in various assets creates a broken experience for mainstream users.
I have always drawn inspiration from Apple. They built the iPhone hardware alongside the software, the App Store, and the broader ecosystem required for massive success. We own the full stack in a similar way. Soneium and Strium provide the network, the Startale app provides the user interface, and the JPYSC and USDSC stablecoins handle transactions.
Owning the stack allows us to remove friction entirely. We abstract away complexity, simplify onboarding, and optimise the flow of value without relying on fragmented external dependencies.
JPYSC is the first trust bank-backed yen stablecoin. Why was the yen the right currency to tackle first for the Asian market, and how does that complement USDSC?
Japan is our home market, and naturally, we see the strongest enterprise demand there today. Japanese corporations and international firms operating in Japan want to move settlements, treasury operations, and supply chain flows onchain, using a currency they fully trust. They require stability and regulatory clarity from day one, making the yen the ideal starting point.
JPYSC is designed for domestic enterprises and global financial institutions engaged with Japan’s economy. We are already seeing strong interest from major banks exploring use cases such as FX optimisation, yen liquidity management, carry strategies, and time-zone-based currency efficiency across global markets.
In parallel, USDSC serves as the global settlement layer for dollar-denominated activity and international trade. Together, they form a regulated yen-dollar stablecoin pair that operates across multiple jurisdictions and market cycles. The key idea involves the creation of programmable liquidity that moves seamlessly across time zones, markets, and institutional needs.
Coinbase, Circle, and Stripe are all converging on the same vertically integrated model. Is this inevitable for any company seeking to be a long-term infrastructure?
Yes, I believe this convergence is inevitable. If you look at previous technology cycles, such as internet infrastructure and telecommunications, they all start highly fragmented. Over time, they consolidate into vertically integrated systems because global-scale infrastructure requires tight coordination.
We are seeing the same pattern repeat in crypto. Payments, custody, compliance, distribution, and application layers must be tightly integrated to achieve mainstream adoption. The moment you reach institutional scale, fragmentation becomes friction, and friction becomes cost.
Vertical integration acts as an architectural necessity. Companies that fail to own or coordinate their infrastructure ultimately become tenants in someone else’s system. We are building the stack itself to support the next generation of global onchain finance and applications.
Startale has added Mini Apps across gaming, finance, and entertainment. How do you decide what stays native to Startale's stack versus what you bring in from outside, and who controls curation?
We determine this by evaluating what is essential to the core user experience. Components such as the wallet and basic stablecoin features are critical to our ecosystem and required for everything to function smoothly. For everything else, we maintain complete flexibility.
Our role is to provide the strongest possible foundation for builders. The ecosystem thrives best when developers have freedom. Our job is simply to ensure that the underlying infrastructure never becomes a bottleneck to innovation.
You relocated to the US to drive Startale's global expansion. What does the US market require that Asia doesn't, and what does Asia understand about onchain infrastructure that the West is still catching up to?
The world has seen the emergence of many blockchain hubs across Japan, Hong Kong, Singapore, and the UAE. The US remains a vital market because it holds the most capital, is the world’s largest economy, and serves as a hotbed of developer talent. Succeeding in the US requires a highly aggressive mentality focused on completely dominating the market.
Japan and broader Asia possess a distinct, equally important strength. They demonstrate exceptional discipline in building real-world systems. In Japan specifically, there is a strong emphasis on trust, compliance, and long-term reliability. Technology is evaluated on its ability to integrate safely with existing financial, corporate, and regulatory structures.
That discipline has shaped a highly mature approach to crypto. While early Western narratives focused heavily on speculative cycles and memecoins, Japan consistently pushed towards institutional-grade use cases. These focus on payments, enterprise settlement, IP monetisation, and supply chain infrastructure that plugs directly into the real economy.
The US brings speed, capital formation, and global ambition. Japan brings precision, regulatory clarity, and a deep understanding of how to embed new technology within real institutional systems.