Rakuten Adds XRP Payments for 44 Million Users Across 5 Million Japanese Merchants

Rakuten is a major Japanese e-commerce and fintech group whose Rakuten Pay ecosystem connects payments, wallets and a rewards program worth about $23 billion. Adding XRP brings the crypto asset beyond trading and further into Japan's mainstream retail-payment market, expanding its real-world use.

Rakuten announced on July 19, 2026, that it would integrate XRP into Rakuten Pay, allowing 44 million users to spend it at more than 5 million merchants across Japan. Users can also buy XRP with Rakuten Points, trade it on the spot market and deposit it into their Rakuten wallets. Following the announcement, XRP briefly moved toward $1.38.