Ripple's RLUSD Lands in Japan, Finally Proving SBI's 2016 Crush Wasn't One-Sided 🇯🇵

Ripple's dollar-backed stablecoin Ripple USD (RLUSD) is now live in Japan through SBI VC Trade's VCTRADE platform, following approval from the country's Financial Services Agency as a new category of electronic payment instrument under the Payment Services Act. The classification, effective under rules that took effect June 1, allows qualifying foreign-issued stablecoins to operate as regulated payment tools in Japan. Customers of SBI VC Trade, the digital asset arm of Japanese financial conglomerate SBI Group, can access RLUSD for both institutional and retail use.

The Japan launch delivers on a memorandum of understanding signed between Ripple and SBI in August 2025 and extends a partnership dating back to 2016. Ripple's Senior Vice President of Stablecoins, Jack McDonald, said the token will serve as a bridge for payments, tokenization, and collateral management, linking Japanese businesses to global dollar liquidity. "Japan has long been a leader in digital asset adoption, underpinned by both regulatory clarity and financial innovation. This launch marks an important step in expanding access to transparent, regulated USD-backed stablecoins like RLUSD for financial institutions, consumers, and businesses in Japan," McDonald said.

RLUSD remains a small player in the global stablecoin market. Ripple said the token has reached roughly $1.7 billion in market value since launching in late 2024, well below the $186 billion in Tether's USDT and $74 billion in Circle's USDC, the two largest stablecoins by capitalization. According to DeFiLlama data, RLUSD's market cap hit an all-time high of $1.8 billion in early June before slipping to about $1.59 billion, a level still up approximately 271% over the past year.

The Japan rollout is part of a broader push by Ripple and SBI into the Japanese market. XRP gained a spot listing on Rakuten Wallet earlier this year, and SBI continues to expand adoption of XRP and the XRP Ledger domestically. RLUSD is positioned separately from XRP, which Ripple is best known for, and is pitched primarily as an enterprise token for settlements and the onchain representation of real-world assets.

Ripple said it will look to translate its Japanese regulatory credentials into trading volume and liquidity in a market where USDT and USDC dominate. The launch follows RLUSD's expansion into other regulated markets, and the coming months will test whether the token can carve out a meaningful share of Japan's tightly supervised stablecoin sector.