SBI Holdings has filed to launch the first Ripple spot trading fund (XRP) in Japan, in a move that deliberately bypasses Ethereum and targets institutional assets estimated at around $32 billion. This approach is seen as a structural decision that reflects Japan’s regulatory environment and SBI’s decade-long investments in XRP infrastructure, as much as it reflects pure market preferences.
The creation request reveals two distinct products: the first is a crypto-asset ETF that tracks the performance of Bitcoin and It should be noted that neither product includes Ethereum.
The Japanese Financial Services Agency (FSA) is currently developing a framework that would more clearly reclassify cryptocurrencies as financial products. A change that makes structured ETFs a structurally viable option for pension funds and insurance company capital for the first time.
Why Ripple instead of Ethereum? Regulatory and technical rationale behind the SBI decision
The choice of SBI is not just an endorsement of XRP technology over Ethereum, but rather a product of the alignment of institutional infrastructure and regulatory requirements that have developed in Japan over the years.
SBI Ripple Asia, a joint venture between SBI Holdings and Ripple, has operated in Japan since 2016, giving SBI deep access to XRP liquidity, approved custody paths, and pre-existing compliance frameworks related to the Ripple payments network. On the other hand, Ethereum does not have this local institutional weight in the specific structure of the Japanese market.
Yoshitaka Kitao, CEO of SBI Holdings, is one of Ripple’s largest institutional backers in Asia, making the request to launch an XRP ETF a logical extension of a long-standing strategic relationship. SBI is not launching a random crypto product in Japan, but rather transforming its existing infrastructure into a regulated investment pool.
While the US market has moved from approving Bitcoin funds to Ethereum funds sequentially, in part due to SEC precedents and the classification of Ethereum as a commodity, the Japanese Financial Services Agency is taking a different path. In Japan, the widespread adoption of XRP and SBI’s partnership with Ripple make the regulatory case for it clearer and easier compared to Ethereum.
If approved, the XRP-linked fund would be the first of its kind in Japan, providing local investors with regulated exposure to spot trading without the risks of relying on offshore exchanges.
Increased regulatory clarity in key markets has accelerated timelines for institutions around the world, and Japan is now operating on its own terms.
XRP Price Impact: Institutional Demand of $32 Billion
The SBI order is a medium-term demand booster, not necessarily an immediate price driver. ETF approval times in Japan are measured in months, and the Financial Services Agency’s reclassification framework is still ongoing. However, the signal in favor of institutional investment in XRP seems clear and unambiguous.
Japan’s Financial Services Agency could make progress on reclassifying cryptocurrencies by this year, paving the way for a $32 billion target market that could begin to turn to these investments.
Altcoins are also gaining momentum globally; Grayscale and VanEck are moving forward with US BNB ETF orders, confirming that regulated exposure to altcoins has become a product category in its own right and not just an experiment. With this approach, SBI places Japan at the forefront of this development.
The article Japanese SBI Calls for Launch of First XRP Fund, Overtakes Ethereum appeared first on Cryptonews Arabic.
