Ripple's RLUSD Stablecoin Launches in Japan After Regulatory Approval

Japan's Financial Services Agency approved Ripple USD (RLUSD) as a new electronic payment instrument, letting SBI VC Trade offer the dollar-backed stablecoin to institutional and retail customers as regulated stablecoin adoption expands across Asia.

Ripple's RLUSD Stablecoin Launches in Japan After Regulatory Approval Japan's Financial Services Agency approved Ripple USD (RLUSD) as a new electronic payment instrument, letting SBI VC Trade offer the dollar-backed stablecoin to institutional and retail customers as regulated stablecoin adoption expands across Asia. Aaron Rafferty June 25, 2026 Key Takeaways: Japan's Financial Services Agency approved Ripple's dollar-backed stablecoin RLUSD as a new category of electronic payment instrument under the Payment Services Act, clearing it for both institutional and retail use. SBI VC Trade will distribute RLUSD on its VCTRADE platform, extending a Ripple and SBI partnership that dates to 2016 and an August 2025 agreement. RLUSD holds about $1.7 billion in market value, still small next to Tether's USDT at roughly $186 billion and Circle's USDC near $74 billion. Ripple's dollar-backed stablecoin RLUSD went live in Japan on June 24 after clearing the country's financial regulator. Japan's Financial Services Agency approved RLUSD as a new category of electronic payment instrument under the Payment Services Act, a designation built for foreign-issued stablecoins that meet Japanese standards, according to CoinDesk . The token will reach both institutions and retail customers through SBI VC Trade, the digital asset arm of Japanese financial group SBI, on its VCTRADE platform. Japan runs one of the strictest stablecoin regimes in the world, so clearing a foreign dollar token for both institutional and retail use is a real regulatory marker, not a press release. RLUSD is backed one to one by cash and US Treasuries, and Ripple has positioned it as an enterprise token for settlement and tokenization rather than trading. Jack McDonald, the company&