The Strategic Business Innovator Group (SBI) is one of the biggest financial services firm in the world. The Groups companies and businesses are typically held at SBI Holdings. Based in Tokyo, Japan, the CEO of the company, Yoshitaka Kitao has recently said earlier in February that SBI VCTrade will go live next month in March. This would mean that verified members will be able to purchase the XRP token as well as other tokens with the Japanese Yen.

Ripple’s native token XRP has recently been listed on Coinbase Pro but the good news doesn’t stop there as SBI has planned to have numerous banks in Japan use the cryptocurrency by the 2025 Osaka Expo.

Kitao recently took part in an interview with the local publication for the nation, Coinpost. The CEO spoke about the future of XRP and utility:

“The use of “xRapid” using XRP is getting widespread, and the number of companies participating in ripple nets is increasing substantially. Therefore, in such a meaning, it seems that the use of Ripple ‘s technology will gradually become used in the form of using “XRP” in the international money transfer field. Virtual currency is tough unless there is “real demand”, but we believe firm “real demand” will come out from now on.”

One of the more interesting things to take away from the announcement is that SBI’s goal is to have Japanese banks use the XRP token in just six years time for the Osaka Expo. For those that don’t know, the next World Expo, will take place in Osaka on 3rd May 2025 - 3rd November 2025. The theme of the expo is “design future society for our lives” with subthemes such as “How to Lead a Healthy Life in a Diverse Manner” and “Sustainable Socioeconomic Systems.”

SBI has created a consortium of several banks which will most likely be utilising the ambitious bid to have hundreds of banks use Ripple's native token, XRP.

Kitao is a well-known bull when it comes XRP and has made several predictions on the token in the past saying that when SBI VC goes live, the price will make gains to the $10 mark.