The Group’s crypto arm will offer the service.

SBI Group (TYO: 8473) is launching a crypto lending service through SBI VC Trade, its crypto-focused exchange subsidiary. The Japanese financial powerhouse said it will initially allow customers to tender only bitcoin (BTC), but intended to follow up with XRP and ETH lending too. (COIN TELEGRAPH)

SBI VC Trade Lending

Customers can lend a minimum of 0.1 BTC and a maximum of 5 BTC. That translates to a USD range of $1,918 – $95,920, as per the rate currently prevailing.

Customers will earn interest at the rate of 1% on the cryptos they lend to VC Trade, taxes included. The lending tenure is 84 days.

There are no account management fees or annual membership fees. Japanese yen or cryptocurrency deposits will also not attract a fee. However, a fee will be charged for withdrawal of Japanese Yen.

SBI’s foray into crypto

The Japanese financial giant has made several moves in recent months related to crypto markets. However, it already has a substantial crypto infrastructure in place such as the SBI VC Trade crypto exchange, a crypto mining subsidiary named SBI Crypto, and the SBI-Ripple Asia blockchain network that it runs in conjunction with Ripple.

• In July, it bought a minority stake in the British liquidity provider B2C2 for $30 million
• In October, it acquired a controlling stake in the TaoTao crypto exchange from Yahoo Japan.
• The same month, it launched an unlisted securities fund with a Swiss crypto bank named Syngnum. Worth $66.3 million, the fund would target promising crypto and blockchain startups in Europe and Southeast Asia.

Moreover, partner Ripple may relocate its headquarters to Japan in case it decides to move out of the U.S., further cementing the ties between them.

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