Did SBI Holdings Really Buy $10 Billion Worth Of XRP? CEO Reveals The Real Figure
Speculation round institutional XRP accumulation intensified after claims surfaced that SBI Holdings had acquired $10 billion price of the digital asset. The narrative gained traction rapidly, feeding bullish sentiment and reinforcing assumptions about deep corporate exposure to XRP. However, a direct clarification from the corporate’s management has now reframed the dialog, changing viral figures with verifiable monetary actuality.
Where The $10 Billion XRP Claim Originated
The controversy started with social media commentary on X (previously Twitter) by @Strivex_, linking SBI Holdings’ increasing crypto footprint—notably its Singapore exercise—to a presumed multi-billion-dollar XRP treasury. The declare recommended the Japanese financial giant was holding roughly $10 billion within the token on its steadiness sheet. This interpretation positioned SBI not simply as a strategic companion inside Ripple’s ecosystem however as one of many largest direct company holders of the asset.
CEO Yoshitaka Kitao moved swiftly to dismantle that narrative. Responding publicly, he clarified that the circulating determine misrepresented the agency’s publicity construction. SBI doesn’t custody $10 billion price of XRP tokens, nor does it maintain a treasury position of that scale within the cryptocurrency itself. Kitao emphasised that such a holding would introduce significant volatility risk, an publicity profile inconsistent with SBl’s balance-sheet administration technique.
Instead, the company’s financial linkage to XRP is oblique, working by way of company possession fairly than token accumulation. This distinction is essential as a result of fairness publicity and digital asset custody carry basically totally different danger, liquidity, and accounting implications. By correcting the misunderstanding, Kitao repositioned SBI’s involvement as strategic and institutional.
Indirect Exposure, Direct Influence
SBI Holdings’ precise stake sits in Ripple Labs, the place it owns roughly 9% fairness. This shareholding supplies financial participation in Ripple’s enterprise development, know-how deployment, and institutional fee enlargement – with out requiring direct XRP token holdings. Based on non-public market estimates that place Ripple’s valuation above $50 billion, SBI’s stake interprets to an implied worth of roughly $4.5 billion. While substantial, this determine is lower than half the viral $10 billion declare and displays possession in company infrastructure fairly than cryptocurrency reserves.
Kitao has described this Ripple stake as a “hidden asset” inside SBl’s broader valuation framework. The characterization alerts that the market might not absolutely worth within the upside tied to Ripple’s enlargement, notably as blockchain settlement and cross-border payment rails scale globally.
The partnership itself is longstanding, relationship again to 2016, and extends past passive funding. SBI has actively supported Ripple’s institutional penetration across Asia. Its current acquisition of a majority stake in Singapore-based change Coinhako illustrates this operational alignment, establishing a digital asset corridor between Japan and Southeast Asia. Further collaboration consists of participation in Ripple’s $1 billion treasury initiative alongside Evernorth Holdings, designed to speed up institutional XRP utilization.
Through these initiatives, SBI maintains publicity to XRP’s real-world deployment throughout liquidity provisioning, settlement infrastructure, and fee corridors – even with out holding the token immediately.