Ripple Brings RLUSD to Japan via SBI Group Partnership

The launch fulfills a strategic memorandum of understanding signed between Ripple and SBI Group in August 2025. By leveraging SBI VC Trade’s existing local license, Ripple gains a compliant entry point into one of Asia’s most strictly regulated digital asset environments. Under the terms of the Japan Payment Services Act, RLUSD is now classified as an electronic payment instrument for foreign-issued stablecoins.

Jack McDonald, Ripple’s senior vice president of stablecoins, stated that the move provides Japanese market participants with access to a transparent, dollar-backed alternative for payments, tokenization, and collateral management. SBI VC Trade CEO Tomohiko Kondo described the integration as a major milestone in the decade-long partnership between the two firms, which dates back to 2016.

Since its late 2024 debut, RLUSD has reached a market capitalization of $1.7 billion. The Japan expansion follows a recent push into the Turkish market and broader efforts to increase the coin's utility across more than 40 blockchain networks via the Wormhole framework. While regulatory hurdles have been cleared, the long-term success of the stablecoin will hinge on liquidity depth and the specific demand for dollar-based digital settlement among Japanese businesses and institutions.