STANDAGE Co., Ltd. and Sankyu Co., Ltd. (Headquarters: Chuo-ku, Tokyo; President and CEO: Koudai Nakamura; hereinafter referred to as Sankyu) announced that on Wednesday, May 19, 2021, they launched the first logistics service in the logistics industry to utilize digital currency for payment of logistics costs (hereinafter referred to as "this service").

The digital currencies available are stablecoins, which are issued backed by fiat currencies such as USDCoin*¹, and whose value is pegged to that fiat currency.

Standage and Sankyu conducted four pilot projects starting in February 2021, using digital currency to settle logistics costs for Sankyu, which handles logistics operations in international transportation between Nigeria, Africa's largest economy, and Japan.

[Overview of the demonstration experiment]
1. The buyer company deposits the product price in the digital currency USDCoin into a digital vault on the blockchain (escrow*²).
2. The seller company ships the product, and the buyer company successfully receives the product.
3. Using the keys of both the seller and buyer companies, the payment for the goods is withdrawn from the digital safe and paid to the seller company.
4. The seller company pays Sankyu the logistics costs in USDCoin.

The demonstration was successful, as it demonstrated that this method of payment for logistics costs could be implemented without any problems.

Traditionally, trade was completed between two countries: the exporting country and the importing country. However, in recent years, with the development of multilateral free trade and supply chains, the number of cases involving trilateral transport*³ has increased.
In Japan, the need for triangular transportation is increasing due to the growing number of companies establishing overseas production bases.

This service aims to simplify the flow of money by combining the advantages of triangular trade—shorter shipping times—with the strengths of cryptocurrency: secure, inexpensive, and rapid payments, anticipating the increase in triangular trade between overseas companies and corporations.

Standage and Sankyu entered into a capital and business alliance in March 2020. They are integrating Standage's "DiGiTRAD," a comprehensive trade platform that leverages cryptocurrency-based trade settlement services, with Sankyu's strengths in international logistics services. Together, they are working to build safe, secure, and easy-to-use international transportation services and to promote the digital transformation of logistics operations.

Going forward, the two companies will work together to build a system that utilizes smart contracts*⁴, leveraging the digital escrow of the "DiGiTRAD" blockchain technology-based trade settlement system, where logistics costs are automatically paid from the digital escrow according to the steps of cargo delivery.
We aim to digitize logistics operations by automating payment and logistics processes.

*¹What is USDC (USD Coin)?
A cryptocurrency pegged to the US dollar. 1 USDC has a value of 1 US dollar and is called a stablecoin.
Developed by Circle, Inc., which has received investment from financial giant Goldman Sachs.
To ensure the stability of USDC's value, USDC partners hold US dollars in a bank account each time they issue new tokens. This account is audited by Grant Thornton LLP, a leading US auditing firm, and the audit results are published monthly, making it a highly reliable currency.

*²What is escrow?
This involves having a trustworthy, neutral third party act as an intermediary between the buyer and seller during a transaction.

*³What is triangular transport?
This refers to transportation activities in trade between countries other than one's own.
A common scenario involves a third country, unrelated to the export or import of goods, purchasing goods from an exporter, entering into a sales contract with the importer, and then the goods being sold from the overseas company to an overseas importing company.

*⁴What is a smart contract?
A computer program that automatically generates, approves, and executes contracts digitally.
For example, a program that ensures a contract is reliably fulfilled and executed, like a vending machine, where you pay money to buy a beverage without any unnecessary intermediaries.

About Sankyu Inc.
https://www.sankyu.co.jp
Founded in 1918, it is a comprehensive logistics company with 41 branches and 49 affiliated companies in Japan, and 41 local subsidiaries overseas.
We organically connect plant engineering, logistics, and operations support.
We have built a business model unlike any other in the world.
We provide total support from the planning stage of the plant, through design, construction, heavy equipment transportation, installation, and commissioning.
After the plant is completed, we will provide operational support and equipment maintenance necessary for the stable operation of the plant, as well as support for procurement, production, and sales.
We have established a system that can provide comprehensive support for all aspects of logistics.

If you are an interested company, please feel free to contact us.

[Contact Information]
Shiba NA Building 4F, 3-6-10 Shiba, Minato-ku, Tokyo 105-0014
STANDAGE Co., Ltd.
President and CEO: Akinori Adachi
Executive Vice President/COO: Kenta Omori
Press Contact Email: info@standage.org