‘Game-Changer’: Rakuten Wallet Adds XRP, Giving 44 Million Users Broader Crypto Access

Key Takeaways:

• Rakuten enables 44 cardinal users to bargain XRP and person it for spending astatine 5 cardinal merchant locations.
• Platform unlocks $23 cardinal successful Rakuten Points, creating a large caller on-ramp into XRP adoption.
• Japan’s Rakuten ecosystem signals broader crypto payments maturation beyond 100 cardinal users.

XRP Integration Into Rakuten Wallet Payments Ecosystem

Large-scale outgo ecosystems are progressively embedding integer assets arsenic applicable fiscal tools wrong mundane commerce. Ripple’s Senior Ecosystem Growth Manager, Tatsuya Kohrogi, outlined a caller rollout involving Rakuten Wallet connected April 13, centered connected integrating XRP into its broader user payments environment. The update elaborate XRP integration into payments, loyalty conversion, and user transaction flows crossed Japan’s network.

“Excited to stock what is genuinely 1 of the astir important XRP milestones,” Kohrogi stated connected societal media level X. He added:

“Starting April 15, 2026, Rakuten Wallet volition motorboat XRP arsenic some a listed plus and a outgo method.”

This means “users tin bargain XRP straight with Rakuten Points and complaint their Rakuten Cash with XRP to walk it astatine implicit 5 cardinal merchant locations crossed Japan,” helium added, calling it “a game-changer” portion emphasizing its relation successful bringing crypto into mundane outgo contexts.

“Mainstream entree astatine an bonzer scale,” Kohrogi continued, elaborating: “Rakuten Pay has 44 cardinal users. This isn’t a crypto-native app – it’s Japan’s mundane commerce platform, putting XRP successful beforehand of radical who person ne'er thought astir crypto.” The framing reflects a absorption connected onboarding users done wide utilized outgo tools alternatively than standalone crypto services.

Why Rakuten’s Ecosystem Could Drive XRP Adoption

The station outlined the breadth of Rakuten’s infrastructure, including much than 100 cardinal members and important e-commerce volume. It besides referenced implicit 3 trillion Rakuten Points successful circulation, representing important stored worth wrong the ecosystem. “Points go purchasing power,” Kohrogi noted. “Users tin person Rakuten Points straight into XRP. With 3+ trillion points issued – worthy astir $23B USD – determination is simply a monolithic reservoir of worth that tin present travel into integer assets.”

Additional details highlighted much than 5 cardinal merchant locations accepting Rakuten Pay, indicating that XRP-linked worth tin beryllium utilized wrong acquainted retail outgo experiences alternatively of requiring abstracted crypto-native tools. Kohrogi emphasized: “Spend XRP successful the existent world: 5 million+ merchant locations successful Japan judge Rakuten Pay. XRP is present a spendable currency crossed Rakuten’s full ecosystem. That is real-world inferior astatine a standard seldom seen anyplace successful crypto.” He further remarked:

“Rakuten is 1 of Japan’s astir trusted user brands. The information that XRP is present embedded into its loyalty and payments infrastructure is simply a almighty awesome of wherever integer plus adoption is heading.”

Taken together, the improvement signals a broader displacement toward embedding integer assets into existing user platforms that already person scale, trust, and regular usage.