There appears to be no end in sight for the crypto bullishness for long-standing Japanese Ripple partner and financial services provider SBI – with the firm’s SBI VC Trade crypto exchange this week announcing the launch of crypto lending service, with firm plans to start allowing XRP holders to lend their tokens back to the exchange.
Per a press release, the firm stated that it would initially offer only bitcoin (BTC) lending, but – being SBI – the company was quick to add that XRP services would also be online soon, as well as ethereum (ETH) lending.
Customers can lend a maximum of BTC 5 (USD 96,790), and no less than BTC 0.1, and will not need to pay account management charges, although those making fiat withdrawals will need to pay a fee.
SBI appears to have gone all-in on crypto in 2020, with token-related activity at the financial giant now at fever pitch. Last month, the company gobbled up a direct domestic rival, buying out Yahoo Japan’s stake in the TaoTao crypto exchange.
The firm also bought a minority stake in the British liquidity provider B2C2 for a cool USD 30m back in July. It followed up last month with the announcement that it will co-launch an unlisted securities fund with the Swiss crypto bank Syngnum, with the aim of attracting European and Asian investors.
The latest move will once again cement the watertight SBI and Ripple bond, bolstered earlier this month when SBI’s SBI VC Trade-sponsored esports subsidiary added a third batch of pro gamers to its roster – with every single player on its squad list agreeing to receive their annual salary in XRP.
At pixel time (10:36 UTC), XRP trades at USD 0.69 and is up by almost 13% in a day and 134% in a week. It rallied by 166% in a month and 209% in a year.
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