SBI Digital Community Co., Ltd., a subsidiary of SBI Group, and Ripple Labs have announced a strategic partnership to promote the utilization of XRP Ledger within the Web3 community. According to a official press release Starting August 13, the collaboration will focus on integrating the XRP Ledger into the “Bto3Web3 community,” a digital platform managed by SBI Digital Community, to enhance its functionality and broaden its appeal.
“XRP Ledger is a public layer-1 blockchain developed to enable fast, low-cost, and sustainable payments. (…) Through this strategic partnership, we will increase opportunities for individual users to use XRP Ledger through the Bto3~Web3 community operated by SBI Digital Community, and work to popularize XRP Ledger,” the statement reads.
Ripple and SBI's new Web3 initiative
SBI’s digital community will begin issuing non-fungible tokens (nfts) on the XRP Ledger. The initiative extends to creating an enabling environment for users to interact with these digital assets, from purchasing to trading on the platform.
This effort will be supported by xrp.café, a marketplace specializing in the distribution and exchange of nfts hosted on the XRP Ledger. “As an nft issuance platform on the XRP Ledger, we will be utilizing xrp.café, a marketplace that specializes in the distribution and buying and selling of nfts issued on the XRP Ledger,” the press release states.
To further emphasize the potential impact of the partnership, the companies outlined plans to reward creators and community contributors in XRP. This reward mechanism aims to incentivize and support creative and operational contributions to the platform. SBI revealed: “In addition, we will make it possible to pay rewards to creators and other community contributors in the XRP cryptocurrency, based on their wishes.”
Commenting on the partnership’s goals, the announcement reads: “We believe that by increasing the number of XRP Ledger users, more businesses will be able to provide new B2C services, thereby increasing real-world convenience.” The project boasts a capitalization of 50 million yen, equivalent to approximately $338,000 including capital reserves.
It is worth noting that this partnership is not the first collaboration between SBI Group and Ripple Labs. The relationship dates back to 2016, when the entities formed SBI Ripple Asia, a company aimed at revolutionizing cross-border payments in Asia with Ripple’s blockchain technology.
Furthermore, SBI Holdings has previously integrated the XRP Ledger into several projects, demonstrating the versatility and robustness of the ledger. Notably, SBI used the XRP Ledger for nft issuance during major events such as the World Expo 2025 and has been exploring its application in supply chain solutions in Japan in collaboration with HashKey.
At the time of writing, XRP was trading at $0.5673.
Featured image created with DALL.E, chart from TradingView.com