Rakuten Integrates XRP into Pay App, Expands Cryptocurrency Adoption in Japan

TL;DR

• Rakuten is integrating XRP into its Pay app, enabling 44 million users to use Ripple’s cryptocurrency for payments at over 5 million merchant locations in Japan.

• Users can also trade XRP, buy it with Rakuten Points, and hold it in their Rakuten Wallet. 

Rakuten Integrates XRP Into Payment Network

Japan’s e-commerce giant Rakuten is integrating XRP into its Rakuten Pay app, allowing its 44 million users to use Ripple's cryptocurrency as a payment method at over 5 million merchant locations across the country. 

While announcing this on X, Ripple’s senior ecosystem growth manager, Tatsuya Kohrogi, reveals that Rakuten users can also spot trade XRP, purchase it with Rakuten Points, and store it in their Rakuten Wallet.

https://t.co/R7Gr5bMJPi

— Tats (@tatsuya_kohrogi) April 13, 2026

This latest development ties XRP into one of Japan's largest loyalty systems, with over 3 trillion Rakuten Points—worth roughly $23 billion—circulating in the system. 

Starting on April 15, Rakuten Wallet will list XRP as both an asset and a payment method, allowing users to buy XRP with Rakuten Points and use it to fund their Rakuten Cash for purchases at participating merchant locations.

This latest development doesn’t come as a surprise, as Rakuten had previously allowed users to spend Bitcoin, Ether, and Bitcoin Cash in 2023. In 2021, the company launched its own Rakuten Coin, designed to be part of its points-based loyalty rewards system.

The company also launched its own NFT marketplace in 2022, where users can purchase NFT tokens called Rakuten NFT.