SBI Holdings subsidiary to pay shareholders an interim dividend in XRP crypto

Japanese financial services giant SBI Holdings' subsidiary, Morningstar Japan K.K., has launched an interim shareholder benefits program with XRP, the world’s third-largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization.

Shareholders who hold 100 shares or more of Morningstar Japan K.K, will get 30 XRP coins, regardless of the shares held by them, SBI Holdings announced Wednesday. One XRP coin is currently valued at $0.25.

Eligible shareholders will have to open an account (free) with cryptocurrency exchange SBI VC Trade, and Morningstar Japan K.K will then transfer XRP from its account to shareholders’ accounts, per the announcement.

The deadline for applying for the benefits program is until March 31, 2020. The company said it will email shareholders more details about the program in mid-November.

SBI Holdings also has a joint venture with Ripple, the largest single owner of the XRP cryptocurrency. The venture, SBI Ripple Asia, was formed last year, and runs a payments app called MoneyTap. The app provides bank-to-bank money transfers in “real time” using Ripple’s xCurrent solution. The solution, however, does not use XRP cryptocurrency like Ripple’s xRapid solution.