Finance giant SBI expands cryptocurrency lending service to XRP

Japanese financial services firm SBI Group has enabled XRP lending through its cryptocurrency-related subsidiary, SBI VC Trade.

According to a Feb. 4 announcement, SBI VC Trade Lending users can now earn interest by depositing their XRP holdings between 1,000 and 100,000 XRP, with the lending period lasting up to 84 days.

“VC Trade Lending is a service that allows customers to rent out their crypto assets to the company and receive interest rewards according to the quantity and duration of the crypto assets,” SBI stated. The annual interest rate for lending XRP amounts to 0.1% with taxes included, the announcement notes.

The XRP interest rate is significantly lower than the rate for lending Bitcoin (BTC) to SBI. The company officially rolled out its crypto lending platform in November 2020, allowing users to earn 1% interest from depositing BTC.

The new listing on SBI’s lending platform comes amid ongoing legal issues for the altcoin. Ripple — the company behind several products based on XRP — is now facing a federal lawsuit in the United States for alleged violations of U.S. securities laws by selling unregistered securities. However, the Japanese financial regulator, the Financial Services Agency, reportedly believes that XRP is not a security.

SBI has emerged as a major Ripple partner, introducing multiple XRP-base products. In October 2020, SBI CEO Yoshitaka Kitao said that Japan is the most likely country for Ripple to move to if the firm is forced to leave the United States.