The Japanese Financial Agency has approved the Ripple dollar stabilization currency, which is used locally. The token is included in the electronic payment tool category under the Payments Services Act, and the SBI Group Digital Assets Operations SBI VC Trade will provide related services to institutions and retail customers through the VCTRADE platform.

This means that RLUSD has entered one of the most well-regulated encrypted markets in Asia. Japan has always had more stringent requirements for the issuance, circulation and compliance of stable currencies, and it is not common for external United States dollar stabilization notes to have access to institutional and individual users.

Japan has granted RLSD access to local markets.

According to the disclosures, RLUSD was identified as a new electronic payment tool applicable to the issuance of stable currency abroad. The arrangement allows it to circulate in compliance in Japan and to provide services to a wider range of users through the licensed platform.

SBI VC Trade is a secure asset platform under the umbrella of the Japan Financial Group. This time, the Ripple partnership with the SBI has continued for many years. Cooperation in the area of cross-border payment and block chain infrastructure in Asia was initiated as early as 2016 and a memorandum of cooperation related to the RLUSD was signed in August 2025.

The focus is still on the payment and monetization scene.

Ripple locates RLUSD as an enterprise-oriented United States dollar stabilization currency, mainly for settlement, payment, tokenization of assets and collateral management. According to the company, this product will help Japanese enterprises connect to global dollar liquidity.

RLUSD and XRP are different product lines. The former are mainly for regulated and stable currency use, while the latter is a long-standing and encrypted asset of Ripple. This time in Japan, it shows that Ripple is continuing to push the RLUSD towards a clearer picture of compliance payments and corporate finance.

The scale is still behind USDT and USDC.

Despite the approval of Japan, RLUSD is still significantly smaller than its head-stabilized currency. According to Ripple, since its launch at the end of 2024, the market value of RLUSD has been approximately $1.7 billion.

  • USDT's current size is about $18.6 billion.
  • USDC's current size is about $74 billion.
  • RLUSD is about $1.7 billion in size.

In terms of market share, RLUSD is still in the catch-up phase. Japan has approved additional endorsements for its compliance, but to compete with USDT and USDC, further progress will be required in terms of volume, liquidity and institutional adoption.

As the United States, Europe and Asia move in many directions towards stable currency rules, the United States dollar-stable currency market competition is shifting from a mere competition for users to simultaneous competition for regulatory access and compliance.