SBI Virtual Currencies, the cryptocurrency exchange of Japanese financial services company SBI Holdings, has announced that it will be exclusively listing Ripple tokens (XRP) during its launch period, which began in beta on January 30th.

The exchange has been created for the purpose of streamlining cryptocurrency trading for both individual and institutional customers based in Japan.

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An interview Ripple conducted with SBI Holdings CEO and Executive Chairman Yoshitaka Kitao in August of 2017 revealed the CEO’s bullish attitude toward Ripple: “Not only does it have a clear use case, XRP is faster, cheaper and more scalable than any other digital asset.”

Kitao added that he “strongly believe[s] it will become the global standard in digital currencies.”

A blog post from Ripple announced that SBI Virtual Currencies is “looking to join the xRapid ecosystem.” xRapid is Ripple’s “enterprise-grade solution — to help institutions source liquidity for cross-border payments between Japan and the rest of the world.”

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If all goes according to plan, xRapid users will be able to instantly convert XRP to JPY (and vice versa) through SBI Virtual Currencies.

“Today’s decision to make XRP the primary digital asset of SBI Virtual Currencies shows the utility, efficiency, and scalability respected financial institutions around the world see in XRP,” said Ripple’s senior vice president of business development, Patrick Griffin. “This is a critical step forward in our mission to build XRP liquidity and build an Internet of Value.”

Ripple Continues to Garner High-Powered Partnerships

A growing number of high-profile partnerships and collaborations have gained Ripple a reputation as the industry’s defacto “institutional coin.” Banks across the globe have begun adopting Ripple’s products as solutions for transferring value.

Just yesterday, on April 10th, Santander announced the launch of a Ripple-powered money transfer mobile app.

Coinspeaker also reported on April 10th that Apple is considering adopting Ripple’s interledger protocol to power Apple Pay.