Ripple to Bring RLUSD to Japan

Enterprise blockchain company Ripple has announced that it is bringing its highly regulated Ripple USD (RLUSD) stablecoin to the Japanese market in partnership with SBI VC Trade, the cryptocurrency exchange arm of financial giant SBI Holdings, in early 2026. 

SBI VC Trade CEO Tomohiko Kondo has stated that the introduction of RLUSD would be a “major step” toward making stablecoins more convenient and reliable in the Japanese market. 

RLUSD’s growth 

According to data provided by CoinGecko, RLUSD, which was officially launched last December, currently boasts a market cap of $667 million. 

Last week, Ripple minted another 24 million tokens on the Ethereum blockchain. 

As reported by U.Today, the token was recently used in the initial public offering (IPO) settlement of crypto exchange Bullish, and it could also be part of Ripple’s credit facility for the Gemini trading platform. 

Japan’s stablecoin market 

Stablecoins have been gaining major traction around the globe, and Japan is not an exception. 

In March, USDC issuer Circle, a major Ripple competitor, announced the launch of the stablecoin in Japan in partnership with SBI VC.

Recently,  the Financial Services Agency (FSA), the country’s first financial regulator, allowed local fintech firm JPYC to issue the first stablecoin pegged to the yen. 

Jack McDonald, Ripple’s vice president of stablecoins, says that he hopes that RLUSD will set a new “benchmark” for the entire market.