While the SEC is investigating XRP’s status in the United States, the asset has been adopted by Ripple Labs’ key partner, the SBI Group in Japan.
As a result of this critical relationship, XRP has not yet been declared a cryptocurrency in the country. This was evident in the relisting of XRP by a number of exchanges that had previously delisted it.
TaoTao was the latest cryptocurrency exchange to relist XRP. According to rumours, the exchange will resume physical transactions for XRP on September 22nd at 16:00, following maintenance.
Bitcoin [BTC], Ethereum [ETH], Litecoin [LTC], and Bitcoin Cash [BCH) are already available on the exchange.This addition of XRP follows TaoTao’s merger with SBI Holdings, Japan’s largest online financial conglomerate.
SBI Liquidity Market, the company’s foreign exchange and derivatives arm, acquired all of the shares in TaoTao exchange, transforming it into a wholly-owned subsidiary. SBI now has two regulated cryptocurrency trading platforms in addition to its own SBI VC Trade.
According to SBI’s official announcement, the acquisition would help the company achieve its aim of providing superior crypto-related services. Further,
“In the future, we will make maximum use of the management resources such as knowledge of the SBI Group as a comprehensive financial group, as well as the customer base and service expertise of the crypto assets that TaoTao has cultivated so far…”
Additionally, SBI announced the introduction of the country’s first cryptocurrency fund by the end of November, which will allow private investors to diversify their broader portfolios.
According to reports, Tomoya Asakura, the asset management head of Japan’s largest online brokerage, stated,
“The fund could grow to several hundred million dollars invested in coins including Bitcoin, Ethereum, XRP, Bitcoin Cash, Litecoin and possibly others.”
Japan appears to be on the verge of becoming a crypto-friendly nation, with the banking giant expanding its crypto asset and product offerings.
