XRP is currently trading near the $2 level, yet many market participants believe this valuation still underestimates its long-term utility—especially as a bridge asset for global banking settlements. One region that could significantly influence XRP’s future is Japan, where Ripple has built deep, long-standing relationships with the financial sector.
Japan hosts one of the largest banking systems in the world, controlling nearly $9.6 trillion in assets, led by megabanks like MUFG, SMFG, and Mizuho, alongside hundreds of regional and cooperative banks. Collectively, Japanese banks account for almost 10% of global banking assets, making the market strategically important for any settlement-focused digital asset.
To explore XRP’s upside under extreme adoption, Google Gemini modeled a scenario where XRP’s market cap grows to 10% of Japanese banks’ asset base. That assumption places XRP’s valuation near $965 billion, implying a hypothetical price around $16 per XRP—an increase of roughly 800% from current levels. Gemini noted this is an aggressive estimate, as settlement assets support liquidity rather than mirror balance sheets.
Importantly, this isn’t purely theoretical. Ripple’s partnerships with SBI Holdings, the Japan Bank Consortium, and real-world XRP-powered remittance services show that institutional groundwork in Japan is already well underway.
📌 Bottom line: While full-scale adoption remains uncertain, Japan represents one of XRP’s strongest real-world growth catalysts.
