Ripple moves into Japan, working alongside financial giants Mizuho Bank, SMBC Nikko, and Securitize Japan

Ripple Labs has confirmed its collaboration with Japan’s major financial institutions to launch a high-profile innovation program aimed at professionalizing the XRP Ledger (XRPL) ecosystem.

Ripple is set to collaborate with Mizuho Bank, SMBC Nikko, and Securitize Japan to accelerate XRP Ledger (XRPL) adoption across Japan’s financial ecosystem. In their announcement, the partners stated that they will support startups innovating in the tokenization of real-world assets, stablecoins, and payments and credit infrastructure. 

Japan’s financial giants to save XRPL from collapse

Mizuho Bank’s involvement will give Ripple’s plan more legitimacy and scale. This restores faith in the XRP Ledger’s ability to handle real-world use cases like cross-border payments and managing liquidity.

🔥Big moves in Japan! 🇯🇵 @Ripple just confirmed collaborations with financial giants Mizuho Bank, SMBC Nikko, and Securitize Japan.

We aren’t just talking about payments anymore, we’re talking tokenized securities and real-world assets on the #XRPL. 🏦🔗

Institutional DeFi -…

— PaulBarron (@paulbarron) January 5, 2026

SMBC Nikko, the investment banking arm of Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group, will reinforce the momentum by linking blockchain infrastructure with deep capital markets expertise. 

Securitize Japan will add a tokenization layer to the XRP Ledger, while also expanding its functions to include full-stack financial infrastructure.

Christina Chan, the senior director of developer growth at RippleX, stated, “Japan offers an overwhelming opportunity for blockchain innovation, supported by a forward-thinking regulatory framework and deep talent pool.”

The collaboration is expected to do the XRP ledger some good as data from DefiLlama reveals that the Total Value Locked (TVL) on the XRPL has crashed from a July peak of $120 million to just $62 million. The 50% drop indicates liquid capital is leaving the network’s DeFi protocols.

In the race for asset tokenization, the XRPL currently ranks ninth globally with approximately $213 million in assets. It lags far behind market leaders like Ethereum and newer Layer-1 competitors that have scooped the lion’s share of the RWA market in 2025.

Japan positions itself to embrace crypto

Ripple’s move follows Japan’s 2026 tax reform blueprint, which implemented a significant crypto tax reduction to a flat 20%. Crypto asset gains in the nation were previously subject to taxation of up to 55%.

According to reports, the shift in taxes will categorize cryptos under a separate framework. This is expected to pave the way for possible application of separate taxation to gains from spot crypto trading, derivatives transactions, and crypto-related exchange-traded funds (ETFs).

For losses incurred from buying and selling virtual currencies, a three-year carryover deduction system will be implemented. This means that the losses can be carried forward and deducted for three years from 2026.

Japan is opening the door to crypto-linked investment trusts and expanding its ETF ambitions. After launching its first XRP ETF, the country is reportedly exploring additional funds that track approved digital assets.

Meanwhile, as reported by Cryptopolitan, Japanese Minister of Finance Satsuki Katayama has committed to providing formal assistance to integrating crypto into the nation’s existing financial infrastructure. She praised crypto exchanges as key institutions of the interaction between investors and digital, blockchain-based assets. 

XRP surges  on ETF inflows, Middle East regulatory approval

Ripple’s XRP is up 4.6% in the last 24 hours, extending a 17.6% weekly gain. XRP’s rally is attributed to the deepening Asian liquidity pools and ETF-driven institutional bids. 

Ripple’s stablecoin RLUSD gained approval from Abu Dhabi’s Financial Services Regulatory Authority (FSRA) and Dubai Financial Services Authority (DFSA). This follows Ripple’s expanded MPI license in Singapore, deepening its Asia-Pacific region (APAC) and Middle East North Africa (MENA) payment corridors.

US spot XRP ETFs also recorded $13.6 million in inflows on Sunday. ETF holdings now equal 6.9% of XRP’s circulating supply.  

Meanwhile, XRP also achieved a liquidity score of 678 on Upbit, with a $207 million volume, accounting for 17.17% of the exchange’s total. This reflects concentrated Asian trading activity favouring XRP’s utility for payments. The coin is now trading at $2.18.