SBI Holdings CEO Yoshitaka Kitao has rejected claims that the company directly owns $10 billion worth of XRP. He said SBI’s real exposure is tied to an equity investment in Ripple Labs, not a large on-balance-sheet holding of the token itself.
Social media claim mixed up token ownership and equity exposure
The confusion began after an X user, Ledger Man, praised Ripple-backed SBI Holdings for expanding its crypto presence in Singapore through the acquisition of Coinhako. The post drew wider attention because it stated that SBI held $10 billion in XRP. Kitao replied to the post and corrected that figure, saying SBI does not own $10 billion in XRP tokens and instead holds about a 9% equity stake in Ripple Labs.
That distinction matters. Direct ownership of XRP is very different from owning shares in the company associated with the token. Kitao’s clarification shifts the discussion away from token reserves and back to SBI’s long-running corporate relationship with Ripple.
Article values SBI’s Ripple exposure at about $4.5 billion
The source article says Ripple is currently valued at close to $50 billion. It links that valuation to a $500 million funding round and the company’s expansion into stablecoins and digital asset custody services. Based on that valuation, SBI’s 9% stake in Ripple would imply exposure of around $4.5 billion.
The report also describes Ripple as an important player in cross-border payments and DeFi. SBI’s partnership with Ripple has been presented as a major driver of XRP adoption, especially across Asian markets where demand for faster cross-border payment infrastructure remains strong.
XRP price references in the article appear at two different levels
On market pricing, the article first says XRP was trading near $1.46 with a 4% weekly gain. A later section says XRP was around $1.49, down 6% on the day while still up 4% over the week. Both figures appear in the source and reflect different price snapshots used in the same report.
Kitao also said SBI’s stake in Ripple could become more valuable over time. Based on the information disclosed in the article, SBI’s link to XRP is centered on its ownership in Ripple Labs rather than direct token holdings.