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It appears that blockchain company Ripple Labs may favor Japan over other locations when considering a new location outside the United States.
Japan favored by Ripple
Yoshitaka Kitao revealed this detail at a press conference. The CEO of Japanese corporate giant SBI Holdings said that among all the potential candidates for Ripple’s move, most notably Singapore, Switzerland, the UAE, the UK and Japan, the latter was “the top candidate” for Ripple’s (XRP) operations should they leave the United States.
According to the briefing, Kitao indicated that SBI Holdings was already a Ripple investor, which could serve to justify why Japan would be a legitimate choice for Ripple if it acted according to its relocation wishes. Other indications seem to imply that Japan is likely the first choice of Ripple co-founder Chris Larsen and CEO Brad Garlinghouse, as both have previously expressed their attitudes towards Japan.
SBI Holdings and Ripple – fintech partners
The two have made it publicly known that due to the lack of regulatory clarity on cryptocurrencies in the US, they may consider other countries for Ripple’s operations, as it will be more beneficial for XRP exchanges and cryptocurrency-related businesses in general. Garlinghouse previously said:
“Japan has been one of our strongest markets. We have a very successful partnership with a group called SBI. I’m actually our largest external investor and the CEO, Kitao-san, was an innovator and a pioneer in many things around finance and (fintech) technology. “
Ripple supports MoneyTap
Positive sentiment towards Japan appears to be strengthening as Ripple recently backed SBI Holdings by investing in its subsidiary, a payment company called Money Tap. According to the official report released by the Japanese bank:
“Money Tap develops a next-generation payment platform that uses Ripple’s technology to promote real-time, 24-hour payments. The company, using this solution, offers the Money Tap smartphone app.”
In further explaining the functions of MoneyTap, the report reads:
“Money Tap allows consumers to make payments between bank accounts at their own bank or another bank via a bank account, phone number or QR code, distinguishing itself from other mobile remittance services with its payment by code feature QR. “
With this Ripple-SBI Holdings partnership, Ripple-based technology could be increasingly leveraged in payment services in Japan to provide a seamless transaction experience for Japanese customers. It was also revealed that in the near future, the new Japanese ATM software could be created and powered by MoneyTap, as a new feature.
Blockchain-based digital payments thrive amid COVID-19
With the increased integration of Ripple’s blockchain technology in Japan, the adoption of distributed ledger technology could be even more pronounced within the country. Indeed, despite the global coronavirus pandemic, blockchain innovation and the adoption of digital assets are on the rise, according to Ripple. According to its annual Blockchain in payments relationship:
“Blockchain payment solutions are scaling; Digital assets are increasingly being taken into consideration to facilitate payments, especially if combined with blockchain technology; Industry innovators are achieving significant growth, even in the midst of COVID-19. ”
The report indicated that in North America, Europe, the Middle East and Africa, Latin America and Asia Pacific, knowledge of blockchain and cryptocurrency was recorded at “a whopping 82-94%”.
Ripple also noted through an earlier survey that in the midst of COVID-19, the digital payments industry had thrived and even subsequently accelerated growth. The survey found 99% of its respondents would consider leveraging digital assets to instantly process cross-border payments, which has increased by 94% from 2018 statistics.
Image source: Shutterstock
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