- The bonds will pay owners XRP rewards.
- SBI pays XRP shareholders; used a token to pay esports players.
- A wave of tokenization projects underway in Japan.
Ripple’s closest Asian partner and long-term XRP bull, SBI Holdings, announced plans to issue approximately $65 million in on-chain bonds.
The bonds will pay their owners a fixed interest rate of between 1.85% and 2.45%, payable semi-annually. And the bonds will provide their owners with $1.29 worth of XRP for every $645 worth of bonds they own.
The company said the bonds would be issued in March and mature in early 2029.
Ripple and consulting firms like the Boston Consulting Group have spoken of “exponential” medium-term growth in tokenized financial products. Proponents have cited a “best case scenario” that could see the market reach $68 trillion by 2030.
XRP Bull
In Japan, securities and financial companies are scrambling to enter the tokenized securities market. Last year, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group, one of the world’s largest financial companies with a market capitalization of $226 billion, announced its imminent entry into the sector.
Its closest rivals, like Nomura, have already embarked on their own journeys. Last year, Nomura announced a $52 million securities token offering for venture capital fund managers.
SBI, on the other hand, says its XRP-paying bonds are primarily designed for retail investors.
The company said Japan’s leading financial group, Mizuho Bank, would act as bond trustee and registrar.
SBI CEO Yoshitaka Kitao recently dismissed claims that his company held $10 billion worth of XRP, but admitted to owning a 9% stake in Ripple Labs.
Regardless of these claims, SBI appears to hold sizable XRP holdings. In 2020, the company’s esports subsidiary announced that it would pay its players in XRP.
The company also began offering its shareholders XRP dividends in 2020 and has made six XRP dividend payments to date.
SBI said it will conduct its new bond issuance through the ibet for Fin platform, developed by blockchain startup Boostry.
The same startup also provided Nomura with similar services for its own December 2025 offering.
SBI said only account holders of its cryptocurrency exchange subsidiary, SBI VC Trade, will be eligible for its XRP rewards program.
Tokenization is going global
The main European financial players are also undertaking tokenization steps this month. The French banking company and asset manager recently used the Ethereum blockchain network to issue a tokenized pilot share class of a domestic money market fund.
US-based companies like BlackRock and Franklin Templeton have also begun their own tokenization journeys, using networks like Ethereum, Arbitrum, and Avalanche to tokenize funds.
Tim Alper is a news correspondent at DL News. Do you have any advice? Send him an email to tdalper@dlnews.com.
