Ripple will launch its RLUSD stablecoin in Japan in the first quarter of 2026 through a partnership with SBI Holdings. The company announced Friday that the distribution will be carried out by SBI VC Trade, the crypto subsidiary of SBI Holdings.
Tomohiko Kondo, CEO of SBI VC Trade, said the rollout will expand stablecoin choices in Japan. He added that SBI Group has long led cryptocurrency and blockchain development in the country, and the introduction of RLUSD marks a step toward greater reliability and convenience in Japan’s stablecoin market.
Ripple launched RLUSD in December 2024. The stablecoin is fully backed 1:1 by U.S. dollar deposits, short-term Treasury bonds, and other cash equivalents. As of Friday morning, RLUSD held a market capitalization of $666 million with a 24-hour trading volume of $71 million, according to CoinGecko.
The move comes as the overall stablecoin market continues to grow. The supply of USD-pegged stablecoins reached $266 billion on Thursday, up from $256 billion on August 1, according to data from The Block.
In June, the Dubai Financial Services Authority approved RLUSD for use as a payment rail within the Dubai International Financial Centre. That approval extended the stablecoin’s footprint into the Middle East financial hub.
XRP four hour chart — Aug 22, 2025
XRP/USD on the four hour Bitstamp chart, created on Aug 22, 2025, shows a bullish pennant forming while price trades near 2.80. A bullish pennant is a short consolidation with converging trendlines that follows a strong advance and often resolves in the direction of the prior move.
Price compresses between a descending resistance line around 3.10 to 3.20 and a flat support band near 2.75. Volume fades through the squeeze, which fits the pennant structure. Meanwhile, the fifty period exponential moving average sits near 2.98 and now acts as nearby dynamic resistance. The relative strength index hovers around thirty three, which signals near oversold conditions but does not by itself confirm a reversal.
If buyers force a clean breakout and close above the pennant top with rising volume, the pattern implies a measured move from today’s area. From the current price around 2.80, an eighty four percent continuation points to approximately 5.15, which aligns with the marked resistance area on the chart. Until that break, price remains capped by the descending trendline, and a decisive close below 2.75 would delay the setup and keep the range intact.
