Empowering the Future of Payments & DeFi with AWAJ | Ai Kosuke and Hinza Asif at Pragma Tokyo 2026

Ai Kosuke of SuzuPay and Hinza Asif of AWAJ discuss how Japanese startups can turn blockchain prototypes into regulated payment and DeFi products. Kosuke explains SuzuPay’s stablecoin-to-yen point payment model, merchant onboarding, USDC and USDT conversion, and early rollout in Fukuoka. Asif describes AWAJ’s venture studio approach, which combines market research, institutional partnerships, licensing support, fundraising, and go-to-market planning so founders can build complete products instead of focusing only on technical demos. Their conversation covers Japan’s difficult regulatory environment, the need to validate demand with merchants before writing code, and the opportunity for faster and cheaper cross-border payments. They also announce a partnership to develop new fintech and business-to-business payment products. The practical takeaway is that successful web3 products require commercial research, compliant infrastructure, distribution, and speed. Hackathons can start the journey, but founders need regulated partners and real customer feedback to reach the market. 00:00 Introduction and SuzuPay Overview 01:30 Why AWAJ Uses a Venture Studio Model 02:18 Stablecoins for Everyday Payments 03:34 Building Fintech Products in Japan 05:13 Hackathons, Accelerators, and Go-to-Market 06:17 Validate Demand Before Building 07:54 The Opportunity for DeFi in Japan 08:37 Stablecoins for Cross-Border Payments 09:34 Regulatory Gray Areas and Partnerships 11:29 AWAJ and SuzuPay Partnership Announcement 12:49 New Payment and DeFi Product Roadmap 13:31 Kosuke’s Product Development Experience 14:24 Licensing Partners and Market Access 15:35 Moving from Proof of Concept to Market 16:42 Cashless Adoption Beyond Tokyo 18:08 Support for Web3 Founders 19:14 Closing and Partnership Handshake _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ 🇯🇵 *Pragma Tokyo 2026* Pragma Tokyo 2026 was held on September 25th at the Toranomon Hills Forum in Tokyo, Japan and was an in-person summit for builders and leaders in the web3 ecosystem. Watch the full Pragma Tokyo 2026 YouTube Playlist here: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLT7ZDw43Z98U ETHGlobal's Pragma series takes place in cities around the world, and is designed to be a different kind of event. Pragma is a one-stage conference with founders-only on stage, bringing together a small group of curated attendees and speakers to discuss the future of web3 and reflect on the past. _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ ✅ Follow Ai Kosuke X: https://x.com/kosuke_eth ✅ Follow SuzuPay X: https://x.com/suzupay_fi ✅ Follow Hinza Asif X: https://x.com/hinzaasif ✅ Follow AWAJ X: https://x.com/AWAJ_official ✅ Follow ETHGlobal X: https://x.com/ETHGlobal​ Warpcast: https://warpcast.com/ethglobal Website: https://ethglobal.com YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@UCfF9ZO8Ug4xk_AJd4aeT5HA _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ Are you interested in Ethereum development and entrepreneurship? 👉 Sign up for the next ETHGlobal event: https://ethglobal.com/events 🎁 Get exclusive access and perks with ETHGlobal Plus! https://ethglobal.com/plus 📣 Want us to throw an event in your city? Tell us where! https://ethglobal.com/city