I feel that Japan’s practical use of cryptocurrencies has taken a significant step forward now that Rakuten Wallet has integrated XRP.

Since recently, XRP has been available for trading on Rakuten Wallet, allowing the 44 million users who hold loyalty points to exchange them directly for XRP. Even more interesting is that this is not just an exchange listing—it has become a payment method that can actually be used at more than 5 million merchants within Japan.

Given how massive Rakuten is as a player, the significance of this integration becomes clear. Rakuten’s point ecosystem includes more than 3 trillion points worth $23 billion, and it processes e-commerce transactions totaling 5.6 trillion yen every year. Its subsidiary services, including Rakuten Travel, are deeply embedded in the everyday lives of people in Japan. In other words, even general users who aren’t familiar with cryptocurrencies have been provided with an environment where they can use XRP without even realizing it.

Momentum is also building on the regulatory front. In the Japan Financial Services Agency’s JVCEA Green List, XRP ranks third after Bitcoin and Ethereum, and by mid-2026, capital gains tax could drop from the current 55% to 20%. If that happens, the benefits of holding and using XRP in Japan would become even greater.

The key point is that this was a decision made by Rakuten itself and is not an official partnership with Ripple. That means it’s a strategic decision by a private company based on real market demand. The integration of XRP into an ecosystem that processes tens of millions of transactions per month signifies the creation of real, large-scale use cases—not just a theoretical value proposition.

Currently, XRP is trading around $1.42, but it’s worth keeping an eye on how this expansion of practical utility will affect long-term value perception.