SBI Holdings Stands Pat on $41.2B Ripple Bet While XRP Waits for CLARITY

Japan's SBI Holdings has confirmed it continues to hold its stake in Ripple, now valued at ¥6.6 trillion ($41.2 billion), even as XRP trades through a period of price weakness. The disclosure came during SBI's first quarter earnings call, where executives noted that the "cryptocurrency business remains sluggish, as if waiting to determine whether the CLARITY Act will be enacted." Despite that backdrop, the firm pointed to the Ripple shareholding as a marquee position on its books, underscoring confidence in the long-term relationship between the two companies.

The remarks arrive as the U.S. Senate weighs the CLARITY Act, a market-structure bill that crypto industry participants have tracked closely. Senator Cynthia Lummis indicated that lawmakers remain hopeful a vote can occur before the August recess. "We have one more week here in Washington," Lummis said, noting that a continuing resolution, a nomination and a sanctions vote are competing for floor time. She added that Senate Majority Leader John Thune "has kept a place for the Clarity Act on the agenda before the August recess," and said, "I believe he does intend to go through with it."

SBI's reiteration of the ¥6.6 trillion figure marks one of the largest disclosed valuations of a single crypto-related equity stake by a publicly listed financial group in Japan. The holding, originally built through years of partnership between SBI and Ripple covering cross-border payments and the RLUSD stablecoin, has appreciated alongside shifts in XRP's market price and changes in SBI's reporting methodology.

For SBI, the earnings disclosure served a dual purpose: acknowledging sluggish trading activity tied to regulatory uncertainty while emphasizing that the Ripple position remains intact. The contrast between the ¥6.6 trillion headline figure and the muted tone of the cryptocurrency segment highlighted how much of SBI's crypto exposure is concentrated in Ripple rather than in active trading or token issuance.

The CLARITY Act's path through the Senate will likely shape the near-term outlook for U.S. crypto oversight, with XRP and Ripple among the assets most directly affected by the bill's definitions of digital commodities and securities. SBI's continued public commitment to its Ripple stake signals that one of Japan's largest financial conglomerates is positioning for a regulatory outcome rather than retreating from the sector.