XRP hits three-week high as Rakuten expands XRP payments and wallet in Japan

Ripple’s XRP rallied nearly 6% on Wednesday, reaching a three-week high as traders sought a catalyst. While some market participants initially pointed to a U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) “roundtable,” the move appeared more closely linked to a specific adoption development: Rakuten’s expansion of XRP into its payments and wallet ecosystem in Japan.

Price and market performance

According to CoinMarketCap data, XRP traded around $1.4447 as of 6:58 p.m. UTC on April 16. The token was up 4.2% on the day and 6.55% over the past week. During the session, XRP briefly moved above the $1.42 level, marking its strongest intraday performance in roughly three weeks and lifting its market capitalization above $88.9 billion.

In relative performance, XRP outperformed Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH), and Solana (SOL) over the same window—an uncommon pattern in recent weeks when major cryptocurrencies have typically moved in tandem.

Liquidity and trading activity

Liquidity followed price. XRP’s 24-hour trading volume reached roughly $4.05 billion, up 63.5% from the prior day, indicating a rapid pickup in speculative participation. Trading activity remained overwhelmingly concentrated on centralized exchanges, which accounted for nearly all reported volume, while decentralized exchange flows were minimal. This suggested the move was driven more by broader market rotation than by on-chain venue demand.

Japan adoption drives the narrative

The more durable catalyst centered on Japan. On April 15, Rakuten Wallet began offering XRP spot trading and enabled payments functionality tied to Rakuten Pay, creating a pathway for XRP to be used beyond trading.

The integration allows Rakuten Pay’s estimated 44 million users to convert Rakuten Points into XRP and spend it across more than 5 million merchant locations nationwide. Market participants characterized the development as more than a standard exchange listing because it embeds XRP into a consumer payments loop—an adoption channel often assessed by repeat usage rather than one-off inflows.

Strategic alignment

Analysts also highlighted alignment with Ripple’s emphasis on “real-economy” integration and cross-border settlement. While Japan’s regulatory environment has historically been more prescriptive than in many jurisdictions, Rakuten’s scale was viewed as adding signaling value by linking a major retail platform’s loyalty and payments rails to a liquid crypto asset. If user conversion becomes habitual, it could support incremental transactional demand.

SEC “roundtable” expectations questioned

By contrast, expectations around the April 16 SEC “roundtable” appeared misplaced. Some traders had anticipated the session would provide crypto-relevant signals, including potential implications for digital asset classification or the trajectory of the CLARITY bill.

However, the published agenda focused on traditional options market structure topics, including competition among liquidity providers, improvements to retail options trading experiences, and the direction of options market growth. Crypto—and XRP specifically—did not feature in the official topics, weakening the case that the event alone justified a token-specific repricing.

Regulatory timing risk and market pricing

Regulatory optimism has also cooled. Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse suggested the CLARITY bill timeline could slip toward late May, citing ongoing negotiations around stablecoin-related issues such as interest payments. Separately, Senate Banking Committee Chairman Tim Scott indicated an April vote may be difficult, contributing to a broader reassessment of timing risk.

That shift has been reflected in prediction markets. On Polymarket, implied odds for the CLARITY bill passing in 2026 reportedly fell from 82% to 54%, suggesting traders see a less certain path for near-term regulatory clarity. For XRP, this matters because parts of prior rallies have been sensitive to U.S. policy headlines, even when the linkage is indirect. A weaker “regulatory catalyst” narrative can reduce momentum durability once initial spot-driven demand fades.

Technical factors: supply overhang near cost basis

XRP also faces a near-term supply overhang. On-chain metrics cited in the report indicate a dense holder cost basis band between $1.45 and $1.47, with roughly 1.24 billion XRP concentrated in wallets around that range. The zone is widely viewed as a “break-even” region for buyers from earlier in 2026, which can attract profit-taking and defensive selling pressure as price revisits it.

Previous attempts to clear similar cost-basis clusters have seen rallies stall as sidelined liquidity becomes active supply.

Market snapshot

As of the latest figures cited by CoinMarketCap, XRP’s circulating supply stands near 61.57 billion tokens, with fully diluted valuation around $144.4 billion. The asset remains the No. 4 cryptocurrency by market capitalization.

What to watch next

For the broader market, the day’s takeaway was less about Washington and more about distribution. XRP’s move underscored how “payments integration” headlines—particularly those tied to large consumer platforms—can still trigger meaningful price response in a market otherwise dominated by macro positioning and regulatory speculation. Whether the impulse persists may depend on follow-through adoption signals in Japan and the market’s ability to absorb supply near the $1.45–$1.47 resistance band.