XRP Rewards Push SBI Group's Registered Accounts Past 2 Million

Japan's SBI Holdings has crossed 2 million registered accounts on its crypto exchange platform, a milestone that reflects both deliberate corporate strategy and a broader shift in how Japanese retail investors are engaging with digital assets.

A Milestone Shaped by Consolidation and Loyalty Programs

The 2 million figure was recorded on July 6, and it was not achieved through organic growth alone. The round figure was formed through the merger of accounts from the VCTRADE and BITPOINT platforms following SBI's April acquisition of BITPoint Japan. That deal accelerated a push that SBI's management had been building through a series of crypto reward programs tied to its broader financial product suite.

At the center of that push is $XRP. SBI Holdings distributed $XRP to its own shareholders as a formal shareholder benefit, a program renewed in 2026 with distributions beginning May 1, effectively reaching hundreds of thousands of Japanese retail investors. The tiers are modest but deliberate: shareholders holding 100 to 999 shares receive 500 yen worth of $XRP, while investors with 1,000 or more shares may receive up to 1,000 yen in $XRP depending on their holding period.

The rewards do not stop at share ownership. In February 2026, SBI issued a blockchain-based bond worth 10 billion yen, approximately $64.5 million, that rewarded retail investors with $XRP alongside fixed interest payments. Separately, SBI Shinsei Bank launched a pilot program on June 10, 2026, that lets depositors redeem 20% of their deposit interest as vouchers for cryptocurrencies, including $BTC and $XRP, targeting around 4.33 million eligible accounts.

Yen Weakness and the Search for Alternative Assets

The timing of this retail crypto surge is not coincidental. A sustained weakening of the Japanese yen has pushed both corporations and individual savers to look beyond traditional yen-denominated instruments. Japanese firms are not accumulating $BTC and $XRP for classic exchange speculation, but for a new national practice in which corporations include cryptocurrency in their shareholder loyalty programs.

SBI Holdings has maintained close ties with Ripple since 2016 and remains one of its largest external shareholders, with an estimated 9% equity stake. That relationship now underpins a financial infrastructure stack spanning tokenized securities, stablecoin distribution, and payment corridors. SBI VC Trade began distributing Ripple's U.S. dollar-backed stablecoin, RLUSD, in Japan on March 31, 2026, following Japan's revised Payment Services Act.

SBI's ambitions in the domestic exchange market are clear. The conglomerate's goal is to overtake historical competitors by client base, including Coincheck, which still leads with 2.62 million accounts, and to build a full-fledged on-chain ecosystem anchored around Ripple and XRP Ledger technologies.

Sources
Crypto Briefing: SBI VC Trade surpasses 2M registered accounts as Japanese firms use Bitcoin and XRP for loyalty programs
U.Today: Japanese Firms Accumulate More Bitcoin and XRP Amid Yen Drop, SBI Reports
DL News: Japanese securities giant to issue $65 million worth of XRP-paying blockchain bonds