On February 13th, 2023, FuelHash, a Japanese crypto asset management company, announced that it had listed Ripple (XRP) on its crypto trading and lending program. The announcement was made via a press release from the company, making FuelHash the only Japanese firm offering XRP on its platform. Ripple joins other tokens available for the program, including Tether (USDT), Bitcoin (BTC), and Ethereum (ETH).
According to information from the website, a minimum of 100 XRP is required to participate in the lending program, with an interest rate of 1.5% after 90 days. The minimum amount for Bitcoin lending is 0.01 BTC, with an interest rate of 3% for 60 days.
Ripple, founded by Jed McCaleb and Chris Larsen in 2012, is a blockchain protocol that aims to make international payments seamless. Its native token, XRP, is used as a currency for the exchange of value.
The United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filed a lawsuit against Ripple Labs for the sale of $1.3 billion XRP in December 2020. The commission termed “XRP” as an unregistered security that cannot be sold to the public unless prior registration with the body.
The litigation caused XRP’s price to plunge, losing 25% of its value. It’s been over two years since the lawsuit was filed, and both parties have not come to a clear position. Ripple has gained the support of some exchanges, including Coinbase, to fight back against SEC allegations.
Despite the lawsuit against XRP, the Japanese crypto community remains a strong supporter of Ripple, largely due to the partnership between SBI Holdings and Ripple. SBI Holdings invested almost $300 million into Ripple in 2017 and is still investing despite the ongoing litigation. There are swirling rumours in the crypto community that Ripple will relocate to Japan if it loses the battle with the SEC.
FuelHash was founded in 2021 with the mission to provide social infrastructure to increase knowledge of crypto assets. Katsuya Konno, President and Representative Director of FuelHash, commented on the development, saying:
“We have started handling XRP, which has many enthusiastic fans, from the desire to provide a means of income gain through lending operations to those who feel the future of crypto and hold it for a long time, It will be the only open-type XRP lending service in Japan, so I would be happy if you could start with the minimum deposit amount (100 XRP). We will continue to reflect customer feedback and update our services.”
If you would like to read more news articles like this, visit DeFi Planet and follow us on Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook, and Instagram.
“Take control of your crypto portfolio with MARKETS PRO, DeFi Planet’s suite of analytics tools.”