Something interesting is happening in the Japanese bond market. SBI Holdings has just announced a plan to issue on-chain bonds worth approximately US$65 million, paid in XRP. This is not an isolated move, no. It seems that major Japanese securities firms are really jumping on this wave of tokenization.

The details of SBI's program are quite specific. The bonds will yield between 1.85% and 2.45% fixed interest, paid semiannually. Additionally, each investor receives US$1.29 in XRP for every US$645 in bonds they hold. The issuance was planned for March, and the bonds mature in early 2029. Here’s an important detail: Mizuho Bank will act as administrator of these bonds and as registrar.

Mizuho Bank is a serious player in this space. Its involvement in this structure shows how traditional banks are positioning themselves in this new market of tokenized assets.

For context, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group, one of the largest financial groups in the world with a market capitalization of US$226 billion, had already announced its entry into the sector last year. Nomura, SBI’s direct rival, has already started its journey with a US$52 million bond issuance for venture capital fund managers. Now it’s SBI’s turn with this offering focused on retail investors.

SBI is not messing around with XRP. CEO Yoshitaka Kitao recently admitted that the company owns 9% of Ripple Labs. Additionally, SBI started paying its e-sports players in XRP back in 2020 and has been offering dividends in XRP to shareholders since then. Six payments have been made so far.

This issuance will run on the ibet for Fin platform, developed by startup Boostry. The same platform Nomura used in its December 2025 offering. An important detail: only account holders at SBI VC Trade, the company's cryptocurrency exchange subsidiary, will be eligible for the XRP rewards program.

And it’s not just in Japan that this is happening. Major European financial players are making similar moves. BlackRock and Franklin Templeton have already begun their own tokenization journeys using networks like Ethereum, Arbitrum, and Avalanche to tokenize funds. Even French banking companies are issuing tokenized money market fund shares via Ethereum.

The scenario that experts like Boston Consulting Group have been discussing is exponential growth for tokenized financial products in the medium term. Some advocate a scenario where the market could reach US$68 trillion by 2030. What SBI and other institutions are doing now is precisely testing and consolidating the structures that will support this growth.