Japan’s e-commerce giant Rakuten is expanding its crypto offering by adding XRP as a payment option within its Rakuten Pay app. The move allows the platform’s 44 million users to use the digital asset for payments across more than 5 million merchant locations nationwide.
The update was confirmed by Tatsuya Kohrogi, a senior ecosystem growth manager at Ripple, who shared details on social media. According to Kohrogi, users will not only be able to spend XRP but also trade it directly within the app.
Rakuten users can now purchase XRP using their accumulated Rakuten Points, a popular loyalty system widely used across the company’s services. Once acquired, the cryptocurrency can be stored in the Rakuten Wallet or used to top up Rakuten Cash for everyday spending.
XRP integrated into Rakuten’s loyalty and payment ecosystem
Rakuten maintains a strong presence in Japan because it has been recognized as one of the most trustworthy consumer brands in the country. The implementation of XRP into its payment and rewards system demonstrates the rising trend which financial institutions use to adopt digital currencies as standard payment methods.
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Over the last three years Rakuten has been expanding its presence in the cryptocurrency market. The platform introduced support for major cryptocurrencies in 2023 which allows users to spend Bitcoin and Ether and Bitcoin Cash. Rakuten introduced Rakuten Coin in 2021 to create its own digital currency which would improve its loyalty reward program.
The addition of XRP to Rakuten’s platform enables the company to create a unified system which combines traditional e-commerce and payment methods with digital assets for users to easily access cryptocurrency throughout Japan.
