According to Reuters, sources revealed that the Soft Bank Group of Japan announced that it had selected Goldman Sachs, Morgan Chase, Sighu Finance Group and Morgan Stanley as underwriters, planning to launch its first public collection in the United States of America of its electronic payment tool PayPay as soon as the fourth quarter of 2025, with a projected raise of more than $2 billion.
PayPay, the leading mobile payment platform in Japan, was launched in 2018 by soft silver and Yahoo Japan (now the LY Corp, a joint venture of soft silver and Naver). Through incentives such as payback, PayPay has successfully pushed Japanese consumers away from traditional cash payments to mobile payments, which now number more than 58 million active users each month, accounting for nearly 50 per cent of the Japanese population. Its services have been extended to banks, credit cards and investment products, with total consolidated transactions (GMVs) increasing by 21 per cent in the fourth quarter of 2024.
In 2023, the soft silver chip design company Arm Holdings, valued at $54.5 billion, was listed in the United States and its current market value exceeded $14.5 billion, a successful example of the soft silver IPO strategy. PayPay ‘ s IPO, which is expected to raise more than $2 billion, is likely to be close to Yen1 trillion (about $7.2 billion) and will be the first holding investment project in the United States since the time of Arm. However, the timing and size of IPOs are influenced by market conditions and there are uncertainties, such as the potential for United States trade policy and global economic fluctuations to delay listing or adjust valuations.
PayPay ‘ s IPO will compete with United States payment giants such as PayPal, Square, which have low rates and a return model that may reshape market patterns. The global mobile payment market reached $2.1 trillion in 2024 and is projected to reach $3.5 trillion in 2028, and PayPay ‘ s internationalization will take over the growth dividend.
IPO in Paypay faces multiple challenges. Market volatility was the primary risk, and uncertainty about the Trump tariff policy at the beginning of 2025 had led to a slowdown in IPO activity in the United States, although recent gains from the science and technology unit and progress in trade negotiations had boosted market confidence. Technology integration is also a challenge, and PayPay needs to ensure that its payment systems match the diversified needs of the United States market, such as support for Apple Pay and Google Pay.
If this information were true, it would be the first American company to be listed in a soft and silver holding stock since Arm Holdings’ first IPO. This initiative marks another major move in the area of global financial science and technology for soft money, which aims to further expand PayPay ‘ s influence through the high valuation potential of United States capital markets.
