XRP News Today: 44 Million Rakuten Pay Users Get Direct Access to XRP in Biggest Japan Rollout Yet

RippleX has announced that users of Rakuten Wallet can now convert Rakuten Points directly into XRP, trade it in-app, and spend it across more than 5 million merchant locations, marking one of the largest real-world retail deployments of XRP to date.

The rollout connects a massive consumer ecosystem, over 44 million Rakuten Pay users, and roughly $23 billion worth of loyalty points, with direct access to XRP, effectively bridging rewards, trading, and payments into a single flow.

The company explained, “Users who hold XRP can directly charge it into Rakuten Cash from within our app. Once charged, it can be used through Rakuten Pay at affiliated merchants or on Rakuten Ichiba.” For beginners, it added, “You can buy XRP using Rakuten Points… XRP now has a point of connection with the Rakuten ecosystem.”

For years, crypto adoption has struggled to move beyond trading platforms. What Rakuten is doing changes that dynamic; users can now enter crypto using familiar reward points and immediately spend them in real-world scenarios.

A Strategic Shift in Japan’s Tech Landscape

This development builds on plans revealed around April 15, when Rakuten, valued at roughly $11 billion, first signaled its push into crypto integration.

Moreover, this shows that large firms in Japan are moving early to adopt crypto to retain their user base as Web3 competition grows.

Japan’s regulatory environment also plays a role. The country has shown a clear preference for established, high-cap tokens, which adds credibility to XRP’s position in this rollout.