Ripple’s Japan Gamble: Will it Pay Off? 🤔

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It appears Ripple Labs, in a move that one might describe as frightfully ambitious, is making a thoroughly determined effort to establish itself in Japan. Seems they’re leaning heavily on chaps they’ve known for ages in the Japanese banking world, hoping to whip up a bit of enthusiasm for their XRP Ledger. Rather like attempting to sell snow to the Eskimos, one might think, but there we are.

This week saw the launch of the Japan Financial Infrastructure Innovation Program – a name guaranteed to set the pulse racing, I assure you – courtesy of the Asia Web3 Alliance Japan and Web3 Salon. The object of the exercise? To provide support to Japanese startups tinkering with digital financial solutions on the XRP Ledger. Jolly good show.

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Applications opened on December 19th, and the reward for youthful enterprise is a rather modest $10,000 grant per startup. The whole affair is focused, rather narrowly, one might observe, on stablecoins, tokenizing real-world assets, and credit infrastructure. One practically hears the clicking of abacuses.

“Japan offers an overwhelming opportunity for blockchain innovation, supported by a forward-thinking regulatory framework and deep talent pool. This program represents Ripple’s commitment to fostering a vibrant ecosystem where startups can leverage the speed, low cost, and reliability of the XRP Ledger to create real-world benefits and transform financial infrastructure,” Christina Chan, Senior Director of Developer Growth at RippleX, said. 🧐 Doesn’t everyone?

The astute amongst us suspect this is a rather economical way for Ripple to identify promising candidates for their significantly larger coffers – a magnificent billion XRP dedicated to developers in Japan and Korea. A bit like fishing for salmon with a rather large net, what?

The program has attracted the backing of some decidedly important establishments, including Mizuho Bank, SMBC Nikko Securities, and Securitize Japan. Quite the gathering of financial heavyweights, one must admit.

@AWAJ_official and @Web3Salon, with support from #JETRO and @RippleXrpie, are proud to announce the Japan Financial Infrastructure Innovation Program (JFIIP) 🇯🇵 during the Japan Fintech Week

🗓 Dec 19, 2025 – Jan 18, 2026
👉 Apply here: #FinTech #XRPL

– Asia Web3 Alliance Japan (AWAJ) (@AWAJ_official) December 24, 2025

However, despite all the corporate cheerleading, this all unfolds at a rather awkward juncture for poor old XRP. While Ripple insists institutions are flocking to their banner, the actual usage of the XRPL paints a slightly different – and considerably less rosy – picture. 📉

According to those data fellows at DefiLlama, the Total Value Locked (TVL) on the XRPL has taken a rather alarming tumble in recent months, diving from a July high of $120 million to a mere $62 million at last count. A drop of nearly fifty percent! Rather puts a damper on the festivities, doesn’t it?

This suggests that funds are making a beeline for the exit, even as Ripple continues to cultivate these grand partnerships. One begins to suspect inconsistencies.

Naturally, the general gloom hanging over the crypto market hasn’t helped matters, with Bitcoin itself having shed thirty percent of its value since October. A bit of a bother, that.

And the push into asset tokenization? Well, it’s facing rather stiff competition. As Rwa.xyz points out, XRPL languishes in ninth place globally, with a paltry $213 million in tokenized assets – a sum dwarfed by Ethereum and the newer pretenders to the throne. 😩

One suspects, therefore, that the JFIIP program is far more than a simple startup accelerator. Ripple, it seems, is attempting to embed itself so deeply within Japan’s banking framework that it becomes impervious to the whims and wiles of the broader crypto market. A rather clever notion, really, even if one does suspect it’s all a bit of a lark.

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2025-12-27 15:28