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's senior vice president of stablecoins, framed it as financial plumbing.
"RLUSD will serve as a bridge for payments, tokenization and collateral management."
Jack McDonald, Senior Vice President of Stablecoins, Ripple
The launch delivers on a memorandum of understanding the two firms signed in August 2025 and builds on a relationship that goes back to 2016, when Ripple and SBI began working on cross-border payments in Asia.
Stablecoins race for regulatory approval
The numbers still favor the incumbents. RLUSD has reached about $1.7 billion in market value since launching in late 2024, a fraction of the roughly $186 billion in Tether's USDT and $74 billion in Circle's USDC. What the approval buys is standing, the credential to compete for institutional use in a market that gates it carefully.
The most notable part of this is the timing. Stablecoins are drawing formal rules in the US, Europe, and now across Asia at once, turning the dollar-token market into a race for official approval as much as for users. That same race is on in the US, where stablecoin issuers face bank-style oversight under the GENIUS Act, and across Asia, where Toss Bank is testing stablecoin remittances with the Solana Foundation in South Korea. Worth watching.
People Also Ask
What is RLUSD and who issues it?
RLUSD is a US dollar-backed stablecoin issued by Ripple, backed one to one by cash and US Treasuries and designed for payments, settlement, and tokenization rather than trading.
Is RLUSD approved in Japan?
Yes. Japan's Financial Services Agency approved RLUSD as a new category of electronic payment instrument under the Payment Services Act, and SBI VC Trade now offers it to institutional and retail customers.
How big is RLUSD compared to USDT and USDC?
RLUSD has about $1.7 billion in market value, far behind Tether's USDT at roughly $186 billion and Circle's USDC near $74 billion.
Why does Japan's stablecoin approval matter?
Japan runs one of the world's strictest stablecoin regimes, so clearing a foreign dollar stablecoin for both institutional and retail use signals wider regulated adoption across Asia.