SBI Holdings CEO Yoshitaka Kitao has reportedly confirmed that Ripple is considering Japan as one of its headquarters following months of speculation. Kitao made the remarks during the release of the company’s quarterly results on October 28.
Ripple’s impending move to Japan is due to what has been termed as regulatory ambiguity in the US. According to Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse, the US has not been clear on whether cryptocurrencies are a commodity, a currency, a property, or security.
In a previous interview, Garlinghouse pointed out that Ripple was looking at Japan as a possible destination. He noted that consultations were already in place with SBI to establish headquarters in the country. Ripple has a massive presence in Japan mainly through a partnership with SBI.
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The announcement by Kitao comes after Ripple pledged to invest in MoneyTap, a joint venture with SBI. The two firms didn’t disclose the investment amount.
Blockchain payment solutions on the rise
Apart from Ripple, MoneyTap has attracted investments from 38 Japanese banks such as Shimane Bank, The Shimizu Bank, Shinsei Bank, and others.
MoneyTap, a peer-to-peer (P2P) transactions, and peer-to-business (P2B) transactions platform seek to accelerate the adoption of QR payments. The product will mainly target corporate remittances.
According to Kitao:
“We could pretty much do this for free between the banks. We would like to make it as free as possible…we would like to develop this nationwide in each of the regions of Japan.”
MoneyTap deploys Ripple’s global financial settlements network RippleNet to offer payment services, which include peer-to-peer transfers, overseas remittances, and corporate payments.
Notably, delays, high costs in processing international remittances are prompting financial institutions to adopt blockchain solutions like Ripple Net. The platform directly connects the remittance bank and receiving bank while sharing information through a distributed ledger.
