All news is rigorously fact-checked and reviewed by leading blockchain experts and seasoned industry insiders.
- Ripple Partner SBI Holding will launch Japan’s first cryptocurrency fund this summer, consisting of 50% XRP, 30% Bitcoin and 20% Ethereum.
- The fund will be targeting private investors and will be implemented with the help of a still secret partner.
Thanks to SBI Holding, Japan is and will remain one of the most important countries for Ripple and XRP. Despite the recent report that XRP has lost significantly in popularity with Japanese investors compared to Bitcoin, SBI Holding is continuing to push the adaptation of Ripple and XRP. The group of financial services companies based in Tokyo is undoubtedly one of Ripple‘s most important partners.
The driving force behind the partnership is certainly Yoshitaka Kitao, who is both CEO of SBI Holding and a member of the Ripple board. The latest announcement probably goes back to him as well as the rollout of MoneyTap. According to a presentation published yesterday, SBI plans to establish the first cryptocurrency fund in Japan, which will consist of 50% XRP, 30% Bitcoin and 20% Ethereum.
The distribution clearly shows that SBI Holding and Kitao continue to bet on XRP and even on its increase in value, despite the disappointing price performance over the last two years. As can be seen from the presentation, the fund is made possible by a partnership with an institution that is anonymous for the time being. What is certain, however, is that the crypto fund will be launched this summer, when the funds will be raised.
According to the presentation, the fund will be “providing individual investors with a crypto-asset fund that embodies the resources of the SBI Group”. Furthermore, SBI states that “crypto-assets, which have a low correlation to traditional assets such as stocks, bonds, etc., enhance the effectiveness of diversification”.
SBI will use its subsidiaries for the custody and administration of the fund. SBI VC Trade will be responsible for the custody of XRP, BTC and ETH. SBI Alternative Investments Co Ltd will establish and manage the crypto Fund.
It is also worth noting that the cryptocurrency fund’s portfolio of 50% XRP, 30% Bitcoin and 20% Ethereum is split on the recommendation of Morningstar, Inc, a global financial services company headquartered in Chicago, as can be seen from the presentation.
SBI and Ripple further deepen their relationship
The announced crypto fund is apparently another proof of confidence of SBI Holding in Ripple and its technologies. SBI was one of the earliest and largest investors in Ripple. Both companies founded the joint venture SBI Ripple Asia as early as 2016 and released the App MoneyTap in 2018, which is to be rolled out gradually to the Japanese banking consortium, which consists of 61 banks covering more than 80% of all bank assets in Japan.
Just last week, SBI Ripple Asia announced that the test phase for the XRP based solution On-Demand Liquidity (ODL) will soon end and that ODL will be widely implemented in the banking consortium. Currently, the banks in the consortium are using the RippleNet to process transactions, however, all partner banks of SBI Remit and SBI Ripple Asia are planned to migrate to ODL this year.
