PayPay, Japan’s leading mobile payment app, has reportedly postponed its U.S. IPO due to market volatility and recent conflict in the Middle East. The company was planning to release its IPO price range on Monday, March 2. According to reports, PayPay aimed for a valuation of at least 1.5 trillion yen, or approximately 10 billion dollars.
PayPay was founded in 2018 as a joint venture between SoftBank and Yahoo Japan, with technical collaboration from India’s Paytm. In late 2024, Paytm sold its remaining stake in PayPay to SoftBank for about 279 million dollars.
The year 2026 began with high expectations for technology IPOs, but several companies have since withdrawn or delayed their listing plans. This shift followed a sell-off in software stocks, fueled by investor concerns that artificial intelligence could eventually make traditional software obsolete. Financial markets have been further shaken by geopolitical tensions, including U.S. strikes on Iran and related upheaval in the region.
Other companies have also paused their public offerings. Motive Technologies, a Kleiner Perkins-backed developer of dashboard cameras for long-haul trucks, postponed its IPO earlier this year. Additionally, the technology brokerage Clear Street withdrew its IPO filing last month.
While the market for smaller listings is currently at a standstill, public investors are still anticipating three possible mega-IPOs in 2026. These potential large offerings include SpaceX, OpenAI, and Anthropic.