Japanese financial giant SBI Holdings says its stake in Ripple remains worth roughly 6.6 trillion yen (about $45 billion) despite a recent slowdown in XRP's price, underscoring the company's continued confidence in the blockchain firm as regulatory clarity begins to take shape.
Speaking during SBI's first-quarter earnings presentation, Director Yasuo Nishikawa, who was replacing CEO Yoshitaka Kitao for the presentation, said XRP's recent weakness appeared to coincide with uncertainty surrounding the U.S. CLARITY Act, the much-talked-about legislation that has so far failed to pass.
"As if waiting to see the outcome of the CLARITY Act, XRP's price has been sluggish. Even so, the value of our holdings in Ripple alone stands at 6.6 trillion yen."
The comments came as SBI reported record first-quarter earnings across every level of profitability, with quarterly profit attributable to shareholders reaching 148.1 billion yen. This figure is nearly 2.5 times higher than a year earlier.
The company's private equity business, which includes its investment in Ripple, was one of the strongest-performing segments during the quarter. SBI said profit from the division surged 328% year-over-year to 119.9 billion yen. The growth can be mostly attributed to its investments in advanced technologies, including crypto, artificial intelligence, semiconductors, and quantum computing.
Crypto headwinds
SBI acknowledged that its cryptocurrency business faced headwinds due to subdued market conditions. The segment posted a 1.4 billion yen pretax loss, although the company noted that its global crypto market-making subsidiary B2C2 remained profitable.
The financial titan said it is positioning itself to benefit once market activity rebounds.
Its recent crypto-related initiatives include the launch of support and lending services for the Japanese stablecoin JPYS, as well as new partnerships and strategic investments that are centered on on-chain finance.
The company also reiterated plans to complete its acquisition of Japanese cryptocurrency exchange Bitbank in August. SBI expects its combined crypto business to serve roughly 3 million customer accounts with approximately 870 billion yen ($5.9 billion) in assets under custody.
Of course, it should also be noted that SBI has long been one of Ripple's closest partners.
The two companies are promoting blockchain-powered payment solutions across the Asia-Pacific region.
The latest valuation shows Ripple remains one of the most valuable assets within SBI's investment portfolio.
Dan Burgin
