SBI VC Trade, a digital asset trading subsidiary of Japan's SBI Holdings, has surpassed 2 million registered accounts.

On July 8 (local time), the blockchain outlet The Crypto Basic reported that growing demand from both individuals and institutions in Japan is also expanding the use of bitcoin and XRP.

SBI VC Trade said the number of registered platform accounts topped 2 million as of July 6. The account total rose by about 69,000 in roughly three months from about 1.93 million around March. The tally included the VCTRADE service platform and the Bitpoint service.

The account expansion also reflected the effects of business integration. The SBI Group merged Bitpoint Japan in April 2026 and has since been accelerating the expansion of its cryptocurrency business. SBI VC Trade said it is Japan's only electronic payment instrument exchange and added it is also expanding its handling of stablecoins.

Institutional demand is also rising. SBIVC for Prime, a service for corporate clients, said corporate inflows have been notable during the recent bout of yen weakness. Japanese companies are using bitcoin and XRP as alternative assets as part of efforts to diversify their financial strategies, and some are also using the two cryptocurrencies as a means of paying shareholder dividends or compensation.

Yen weakness underpins the trend. The Japanese yen has fallen to near its lowest level in about 40 years amid an economic downturn, and companies are broadening the way they manage cash-like assets by using bitcoin and XRP in such conditions.

SBI VC Trade also highlighted the competitiveness of its staking service. The company said it has the largest lineup in terms of the number of coins available for staking, and explained that this provides customers with additional income opportunities. This is seen as a strategy to increase time spent on the platform by strengthening asset-management services beyond trading functions.

SBI is also expanding its stablecoin business. It moved to broaden stablecoins in March 2025 by introducing USDC to VCTRADE. It then launched JPYSC, Japan's first yen-pegged stablecoin, and recently introduced RLUSD in Japan through cooperation with Ripple.

The next step is a stablecoin lending service. SBI VC Trade said it is preparing a service in which customers lend stablecoins to the platform for a set period and receive rewards. It also announced a plan to integrate the two service brands by December.

SBI VC Trade also made clear its goal of becoming an industry-leading exchange. With account growth, institutional inflows and the expansion of stablecoins and staking moving in the same direction, it is widening its business base in Japan's cryptocurrency market.