SBI Holdings has denied online rumors claiming it holds $10 billion in XRP. The Japanese financial group confirmed its exposure stems from a 9% equity stake in Ripple Labs, not direct cryptocurrency holdings. The partnership between SBI and Ripple continues to advance XRP adoption for payments and yield products in Asia.
Japanese financial giant SBI Holdings has dismissed rumors it owns billions of dollars in XRP. The company clarified its exposure is due to an equity stake in Ripple Labs.
SBI CEO Yoshitaka Kitao stated the firm does not own the reported $10 billion in XRP. “The company owns 9% of the equity in Ripple Labs, not billions in XRP,” he explained.
The rumor originated from a social media user commenting on SBI’s business expansion. It spread rapidly before the company’s denial.
Following a recent funding round, Ripple’s valuation is nearly $50 billion. This makes SBI’s 9% stake worth approximately $4 billion.
Kitao indicated the long-term value of the Ripple investment may increase. He emphasized the company’s interest is solely in the equity.
The SBI and Ripple partnership operates through a joint venture called SBI Ripple Asia. It focuses on payments and enterprise blockchain solutions in the region.
In December, SBI Ripple Asia signed a memorandum with Doppler Finance. The research will focus on yield products and real-world asset tokenization using the XRP Ledger.
A Ripple developer recently proposed exploring staking features for future reward systems. This highlights ongoing development activity on the ledger.
