Japanese Giant Rakuten Joins Institutional XRP ETF Holders

The Japanese conglomerate revealed its position in the Bitwise XRP ETF through its quarterly 13F filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Rakuten currently holds 6,690 shares of the fund, which were worth $111,255 at the end of the third quarter on September 30, 2026. With XRP trading at $1.03 and the Bitwise fund shares at $11.51, the current value of Rakuten's XRP ETF stake stands at approximately $77,000.

These crypto investments represent a small fraction of Rakuten's broader U.S. equity portfolio, which totals about $1.4 billion and is primarily composed of AST SpaceMobile shares.

Market Context

Rakuten's entry into XRP ETF holdings comes amid recent outflows from these funds. According to SoSoValue data, spot XRP ETFs experienced net outflows of $10.42 million on November 9 and $7.62 million on November 10, though no significant flows occurred on the following two days. Despite these recent outflows, the cumulative net inflow for XRP ETFs remains positive at $1.79 billion, with total net assets standing at $1.16 billion.

The Bitwise XRP ETF remains the largest among the five spot XRP funds, with net assets of $420.29 million as of October 28. This represents approximately 1.77% of XRP's total market capitalization. Raymond James Financial has also been identified as another institutional investor with disclosed positions in spot XRP ETFs, indicating growing institutional interest in the cryptocurrency despite recent market fluctuations.