Yen for a Change: Japanese Firms Stockpile Bitcoin and XRP as the Currency Melts 🪙

SBI VC Trade, the crypto arm of Tokyo-based SBI Holdings, said registered accounts across its platform have surpassed 2 million, nearly double the count from 2025, with corporate demand for bitcoin and XRP rising as a weak yen pushes Japanese firms to diversify their treasuries. The exchange disclosed the milestone on July 7, 2026, attributing growth to its SBIVC for Prime corporate service, which helps companies spread reserves beyond cash and distribute bitcoin and XRP through shareholder-perk programs.

The 2 million total combines users of VCTRADE and BITPOINT and follows SBI VC Trade's April 2026 merger with sister firm BitPoint Japan. The company plans to fully integrate both brands by the end of December, a step it said will reduce costs and unify service levels. Stablecoin services are helping draw additional clients: SBI VC Trade listed USDC in March 2025 in what it called Japan's first dollar-stablecoin listing, and in June 2026 added Ripple's dollar-pegged RLUSD alongside JPYSC, a yen-pegged token the firm described as the country's first trust-based yen stablecoin.

CoinDesk reported the RLUSD launch in Japan earlier in 2026, which operated through SBI VC Trade under Japan's licensing regime. The exchange also began offering lending against stablecoins during the same period. SBI Ripple Asia, the joint venture linking SBI and Ripple, has been working to move a portion of Japan's roughly 30-trillion-yen prepaid payments market onto blockchain infrastructure.

The development tracks a broader expansion of regulated crypto access in Japan, where a strict licensing regime has historically kept the market smaller than in the U.S. or South Korea. SBI VC Trade said it ranks first in Japan by the number of tokens available for staking, giving corporate clients an additional yield option. The exchange still trails domestic competitors Coincheck, which reports 2.62 million accounts, and bitFlyer in total registered users.