In the deep waters of global finance, true change is never sparked by superficial market fluctuations but is reshaped from the very bottom of the settlement and payment logic. Today, we may be standing at such a historic turning point. And this time, the protagonist is neither Bitcoin nor necessarily Ethereum, but: $XRP .
The endgame of Abenomics: A new path Japan must choose.
Over the past decade, Japan has attempted to break out of the 'lost thirty years' with Abenomics' three arrows: ultra-loose monetary policy, aggressive fiscal stimulus, and structural reform. While it has boosted the stock market, corporate profits, and employment in the short term, the long-term issues of worsening population aging, national debt surpassing twice GDP, and stagnant labor productivity growth remain unresolved.
Currently, the balance sheet of the Bank of Japan (BoJ) has approached 120% of GDP, far exceeding that of major central banks in Europe and the United States. Traditional monetary and fiscal policies are nearly exhausted, while Japan's economy urgently needs a deeper, systemic reboot. Against this backdrop, blockchain technology, especially XRP with practical settlement capabilities and commercial landing, is becoming an important chip for Japan to reshape its financial future.
Why XRP? The true game changer of the financial system.
Bitcoin symbolizes the narrative of censorship resistance and digital gold, but when it comes to the reshaping of financial infrastructure, $XRP may be the true game changer.
Ripple focuses on the most challenging pain points of the global payment system: low efficiency, high costs, and complex procedures in cross-border payments. The annual transaction scale of global cross-border payments reaches $156 trillion, but the current system still largely relies on SWIFT, often taking 2-5 working days to complete settlements, with high fees and multiple intermediaries, which slows down capital turnover and increases compliance and exchange rate risks.
In contrast, the technological and economic advantages of XRP are very clear:
High performance: capable of processing 1,500 transactions per second, with a confirmation time of only 3-5 seconds.
Low cost: transaction fees as low as one thousandth of a cent.
Liquidity bridge: As a bridging currency, it reduces the massive interbank 'pre-funding pool' (Nostro/Vostro) requirements and releases huge liquidity.
@Ripple official data shows that in 2022, the RippleNet network processed over $150 billion in payment transactions. Although there is still a gap compared to SWIFT's daily transaction volume, it has demonstrated strong commercial viability.
More importantly, as the dollar's reserve status faces multiple challenges from geopolitical factors, emerging digital currencies (such as the digital yuan), and global de-dollarization trends, the United States is hesitating amid regulatory and legal disputes. Meanwhile, Japan is quietly accelerating and choosing a different path.
Japan's blockchain bet: deeply tied to Ripple.
Japan's layout for XRP is not just a commercial exploration, but more like a systematic national strategy.
Deep bet by SBI Holdings.
SBI Holdings is not only an early investor in Ripple but also actively promotes the practical application of XRP in Japan and Southeast Asia through its subsidiary SBI Ripple Asia. Recently, several major Japanese banks have officially connected to RippleNet, using XRP for cross-border remittances, inter-company settlements, and other business scenarios. For example:
SBI Shinsei Bank is building XRP network services, planning to cover markets such as the Philippines, Vietnam, and Indonesia.
SBI plans to introduce an XRP repurchase mechanism aimed at reducing market volatility and enhancing investor confidence.
According to the latest plan announced by SBI in February 2025, it is expected that by the end of 2025, about 80% of banks in Japan will adopt XRP or RippleNet technology for cross-border business. The implied demand behind this is massive liquidity and settlement needs.
The Japanese government's Web3 and digital currency strategy.
It is worth noting that the Japanese government is fully promoting this financial transformation from the top-level design perspective.
In 2022, Japan's Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry established the Web3 Policy Office, specifically to research the application of emerging technologies such as blockchain, NFTs, and DAOs. In 2023, the Japanese Cabinet passed the (Basic Policy for Web3 Promotion), clearly proposing a national strategy to build a 'decentralized society (DeSoc)'.
At the same time, the Bank of Japan (BoJ) is making rapid progress in the research and development of the digital yen (CBDC):
Concept verification to be completed in 2024.
Entering the real-world testing phase in 2025.
Maintain communication with companies like Ripple and explore how to integrate with the existing cross-border settlement system.
In February of this year, according to GlobeNewswire, the Bank of Japan announced that by the end of 2025, it will adopt XRP as a settlement bridge in cross-border payment pilot projects. Although it has not yet entered a fully commercial stage, this is already a significant endorsement at the official level, symbolizing that XRP is not only a commercial application tool but may also become an important part of national financial infrastructure.
The new global competitive landscape: whoever controls payments controls the future.
Future financial competition will not only be an iteration of currency forms but will unfold around the following three underlying logics: settlement speed, transaction costs, and global capital liquidity.
In this global financial infrastructure revolution, XRP's core advantages lie not only in technology but also in its compatibility with the existing financial system and the continuously strengthened regulatory compliance.
And in Japan, under the multiple forces of SBI's deep involvement, the government's top-level design for Web3, and the central bank's digital yen pilot, XRP is being pushed from a 'technical experiment' to the forefront of national strategy. If the United States continues to wade through regulatory quagmires, while Japan and Southeast Asia complete the layout of digital settlement networks first, then over the next decade, the balance of global financial hegemony may quietly shift.
$XRP The fuse to ignite a new financial era?
The end of Abenomics has put Japan at a new crossroads: whether to continue consuming traditional fiscal and monetary tools or to bet on new infrastructure in blockchain and digital settlement.
From the offensive of the SBI Group, to the Bank of Japan's active promotion of the digital yen, and the Japanese government's systematic layout for Web3, the answer seems to be emerging.
In the next decade, the true determinants of the global financial landscape may not be the short-term fluctuations on the cryptocurrency asset price list, but those hidden at the bottom, seemingly 'boring' innovations in settlement networks.
And $XRP is quietly becoming the most critical fuse in this revolution. The world may not yet fully realize it, but Japan is already taking action.
