In an industry where disruption is the status quo, only businesses that successfully redefine their core processes get to be a part of the next technological wave. This holds true for the crypto-ecosystem, as well as the banks that wish to continue being relevant in the near future. Considering crypto’s inevitable growth, financial experts have speculated and discussed the “changing role of banks,” a discussion that seems to be taking a direction quite different from what is expected. Enter SBI Holdings.
The Tokyo-based financial services company is one of the few traditional institutions that continues to stay abreast with the crypto-ecosystem, its innovations and developments. While the Ripple-SBI partnership may have highlighted XRP’s position as the ultimate crypto-fiat bridge, SBI has overshadowed most of the cryptoverse’s efforts by pushing forward mainstream crypto-adoption.
SBI’s latest announcement talks about yet another milestone achieved by Japan’s traditional banking institutions. When translated, it read,
“Five new banks have invested in “Moneytap Co. Ltd.,” which provides next-generation financial infrastructure to promote cashless, and a total of 25 banks”
While Money Tap’s foundational goal is to enable seamless monetary transactions across partnered banks, both SBI’s VCTRADE (virtual currency trade) service and Money Tap have declared a scheduled maintenance for the 31st of July, as evidenced by the screenshots below.
Source: Money Tap
Source: SBI
Although no official statement has been made about SBI Holdings’ intention to give more mainstream recognition to cryptos, Japanese markets and the community have joined the dots owing to Ripple’s new website link that features a profile on the SBI-Ripple partnership, marking the beginning of their new venture, SBI Ripple Asia Ltd.
