Rakuten add XRP payments and spot trading for Japan
Rakuten tok say make Rakuten Pay go fully integrate XRP for payments for whole Japan from April 15. Dis one go allow Rakuten 44 million users to spend XRP for over 5 million partner merchant locations.
Di company add XRP spot trading inside di same ecosystem too. Traders and users fit buy and sell XRP inside di platform and store am for Rakuten Wallet.
Rakuten go expand XRP access through rewards: users fit convert accumulated “Rakuten Points” (pass 3 trillion points, about $23B) into XRP wey dey stored for Rakuten Wallet. Dem fit also use points to buy XRP, or top up Rakuten Cash with XRP and pay for store wey accept Rakuten Pay.
Rakuten bin dey support BTC/ETH/BCH payments through im apps before (from 2023) and launch Rakuten Coin in 2021 as part of im rewards model.
Neutral
Rakuten rollout for XRP na clear step to mainstream use: XRP fit dey used directly for in-store spending through Rakuten Pay for one big merchant network, and the same app ecosystem also dey support XRP spot trading and rewards-to-XRP conversion. This fit improve medium-term accessibility and sentiment for XRP.
But the news na more incremental than disruptive. Even though merchant coverage plenty, the article no show evidence of immediate volume surges, price guarantees, or broad new institutional catalysts. For traders, the likely effect be gradual sentiment tailwind instead of direct, near-term price re-rating.
Since Rakuten don already support BTC/ETH/BCH payments and don add crypto functionality before, markets fit treat this as continued product expansion. Net impact on XRP price na therefore assessed neutral, with upside bias for sentiment but limited expectation of immediate, outsized moves.