SBI CEO Shuts Down $10B XRP Hoax: “It’s 9% Of Rippleā€

SBI’s belief in cryptos’ global adoption is provable by the 9% stake in Ripple. But are they actually holding any XRP?

Woman standing on a digital world platform receiving a green light with crypto coins into her tablet.
Created by Kornelija Poderskytė from DailyCoin

The Japanese baking giant SBI Holdings just denied the popular belief that they own roughly $10 billion in XRP coins. Instead, the financial conglomerate raised their company stake in Ripple Labs, expanding their crypto ties after acquiring the Singaporean platform Coinhako.

SBI CEO: Share In Ripple Exceeds $4 Billion

CEO Yoshitaka Kitao has come out with a public statement refuting the $10 billion XRP claims, while also dropping a hint of a ā€œbigger hidden assetā€. SBI’s CEO said the Japanese financial behemoth now owns approximately 9% of Ripple Labs’ company stake.

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This has pushed many market connoisseurs to believe that the hidden asset could, in fact, be Ripple’s RLUSD.

The stablecoin rose to prominence last year, achieving a $1 billion market capitalization in two months since launch. The progress on Clarity Act helps RLUSD to grow on a federal scale, potentially becoming the go-to stablecoin for institutions once the new legal framework is completed & ready to go live.

While market watchers are awaiting the next move from Washington, Ripple’s global valuation has breached $50 billion. Since that’s the case, SBI’s allocation would be around $4 billion. Back in November, 2025, Ripple Labs successfully raised $500 million in a funding round ahead of the stablecoin-focused legal bills.

XRP’s Price Shaken Despite SBI’s Bold Move

The crypto crowd took the XRP news with a pinch of salt, with some stressing that SBI Holdings just proved ā€œthey don’t own any XRPā€. Others saw SBI’s Ripple stake as progress for the industry, while on-chain data shows SBI is actually holding at least 64.5 million XRP coins – other wallets are likely untracked yet.

In terms of price performance, XRP’s make-or-break range at $1.50 held steady for two days, but witnessed a 3.7% downturn on Tuesday. Now, precisely at the lower support boundary of $1.45, the popular remittance altcoin is facing sell pressure from big-time investors, popularly referred to as crypto currency whales.

The broader market sentiment turned bearish too, as displayed in the Bull Bear Power (BBP) metric above.

With both largest digital assets below their respective thresholds on Tuesday afternoon, the high price correlation with BTC & ETH can produce another obstacle. If Bitcoin (BTC) restores $69K and Ether (ETH) reclaims $2K, XRP’s dip below $1.40 could be avoided.

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People Also Ask:

What prompted SBI Holdings to issue this clarification?

Recent social media posts suggested that SBI Holdings, a major Japanese financial conglomerate and long-time Ripple partner, held approximately $10 billion worth of XRP tokens.

What did Yoshitaka Kitao specifically state?

In response to the viral claim, Kitao posted: ā€œNot $10 bil. in XRP, but around 9% of Ripple Lab. So our hidden asset could be much bigger.ā€

Does SBI Holdings own $10 billion in XRP tokens?

No. SBI Holdings does not hold $10 billion (only 64.5M XRP confirmed) on its balance sheet. The company’s exposure to Ripple is through an equity investment in Ripple Labs.

What is the nature and value of SBI’s stake in Ripple Labs?

SBI holds approximately a 9% equity stake in Ripple Labs. Recent private market valuations of Ripple Labs are around $50 billion, based on funding rounds and institutional interest.

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This article is for information purposes only and should not be considered trading or investment advice. Nothing herein shall be construed as financial, legal, or tax advice. Trading forex, cryptocurrencies, and CFDs pose a considerable risk of loss.

Author
Tadas Klimasevskis

Tadas KlimaŔevskis is a DailyCoin Journalist, covering memecoins & latest developments. Tadas has moderate holdings in SHIB, HBAR, LTC, MATIC and a selection of low-cap meme currencies.

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