Ripple’s RLUSD Enters Japan as Electronic Payment Instrument Through SBI Partnership

Ripple has announced that, through a collaboration with SBI, the RLUSD stablecoin is now officially available in Japan after gaining regulatory approval.

In a tweet, Ripple revealed that the Japan Financial Services Agency (JFSA) has greenlighted the availability of RLUSD in Japan as a Type 4 Electronic Payment Instrument. The category is intended for foreign-issued stablecoins that meet the regulatory standards required by Japanese law.

RLUSD Enters Japan

Notably, Japan’s crypto scene is one of the most strictly regulated in the world. RLUSD entered the market starting June 24, the announcement stated. This further bolsters the stablecoin’s credibility and commendable regulatory compliance policy.

The launch comes in collaboration with SBI Holdings, a major Japanese financial institution and a long-term Ripple partner. Ripple will offer RLUSD to retail and institutional clients through the VCTRADE platform.

The VCTRADE exchange is a platform run by SBI VC Trade, the crypto arm of the SBI Group. It offers clients select crypto assets like Bitcoin and Ethereum.

RLUSD Live Only on Ethereum

Ripple noted the RLUSD stablecoin will serve as a “bridge for payments, tokenization, and collateral management.” RLUSD is pegged to the US dollar, offering SBI clients and the broader Japanese market stability while moving their assets on-chain compared to traditional digital assets, which experience price changes.

Further details of the launch show that the VCTRADE platform will only accept deposits from RLUSD in Ethereum. For the uninitiated, RLUSD is native to both the XRP Ledger and the Ethereum network, each sharing an almost equal market cap at $792 million.

However, SBI VC Trades only supports RLUSD on Ethereum, with plans to expand its range of supported networks in the future. Additionally, the maximum cap for RLUSD on the platform is $6,200 per transaction, which is roughly 1 million yen.

A $1.7 Billion Asset

According to Ripple, RLUSD has a market cap of $1.7 billion, a feat it achieved since launching in December 2024. The stablecoin achieved this amid the growing demand for “regulated, enterprise-ready” Ripple added.

Despite this, RLUSD accounts for just a small fraction of the broader stablecoin market, which has a valuation exceeding $316 billion, per CoinMarketCap. The Ripple-affiliated stablecoin ranks 8th by market cap, well below Tether’s USDT and Circle’s USDC. The two dominate the sector, with valuations of $186.3 billion and $73.8 billion, respectively.

With RLUSD’s reach further expanded with the Japan launch, whether the large gap in valuation compared to USDT and USDC closes remains to be seen. However, this gives it a fighting chance.