SBI Holdings has quietly rolled out a new on-chain bond designed to give ordinary investors direct exposure to XRP while keeping the product inside Japan’s regulated market. Related Reading: XRP Tipped As Central Bank Bridge Asset — Bigger Than Bitcoin? Reports say the issue by the Japan-headquartered financial group totals 10 billion yen and is being recorded, issued and managed on a blockchain system rather than through the usual securities infrastructure. SBI Starts A New Kind Of Bond Based on reports, the bonds — nicknamed the “SBI Start Bonds” in some coverage — are being tokenized on a platform called ibet for Fin, a system built by BoosTry to register and manage securities onchain. Investors who buy into the offering receive XRP roughly at the time their purchase clears. The firm has also scheduled additional XRP benefits to be paid on interest dates stretching through 2029. How The Trading Will Work Trading of these security tokens is set to occur on a proprietary system operated by Osaka Digital Exchange, with secondary market activity expected to begin on March 25, 2026. Reports indicate the bonds carry a modest yield range, with some outlets citing an indicative coupon band in the low single digits — a feature that blends a fixed-income payout with crypto rewards. Japan’s SBI Holdings has launched a ¥10 billion ($64.5M) on-chain bond issuance that rewards investors with $XRP. https://t.co/X9U0nW3sd2 pic.twitter.com/b7hwHJTiEG — ????????????????XRP (@BankXRP) February 21, 2026 Who Can Get The XRP Eligibility rules are strict. Reports note that holders must be domestic residents and must hold an account with SBI VC Trade to collect the XRP benefit; there’s a procedural deadline for completing receipt steps by mid-May. In short, this is not an open global giveaway — the offer is aimed at onshore retail investors inside Japan and tied to local account requirements. Market Reaction And Possible Effects Based on reports and market commentary, the structure could nudge demand for XRP because the issuer needs to supply the token for distribution and future payouts. Related Reading: Bitcoin Market Bleeds $1 Trillion, Saylor Signals Strongest Crypto Conviction Yet Some market watchers point out that while the initial sum — about $64.5 million by rough conversion — is limited against the size of global crypto markets, the product matters more for what it represents: a mainstream financial group packaging a digital asset into a regulated bond product. That may make other Japanese firms think about similar moves. Featured image from Trade Brains, chart from TradingView
SBI Crypto, a subsidiary of Japan’s SBI Group, has reportedly suffered a $21 million exploit with blockchain sleuths pointing to possible ties with North Korean hackers.
Chainlink (LINK) is retesting a crucial support zone amid the market pullback, leading some analysts to suggest that another significant drop may be coming if the current levels don’t hold. Related Reading: Shiba Inu Head And Shoulders Pattern Signals 540% Upshoot To New All-Time Highs Chainlink Loses $25 Support On Monday, Chainlink followed the rest of the market, dropping 10% to the local range lows. The cryptocurrency hit an eight-month high of $27.87 on Friday, but ultimately failed to hold this level, retracing to the $25.5-$26.5 area over the weekend. LINK lost the recently reclaimed $25 support level, dropping to the $23.5 area in the afternoon. AltCryptoTalk noted that LINK has been trading within a rising channel for the past two weeks, explaining that the cryptocurrency remains within a crucial support zone despite the drop below $25. To the market watcher, as long as LINK holds above the support zone’s lower boundary at $23.5, “the overall bias remains bullish, and we will be looking for trend-following long setups on every bearish correction.” The analyst also highlighted that the Chainlink network is “secure, efficient, and decentralized,” which adds strength to its native token’s rally. Notably, SBI Group, one of Japan’s largest financial conglomerates with $200 billion in total assets managed, partnered with Chainlink to “power several innovative use cases centered around tokenized funds, tokenized real-world assets such as real estate and bonds, regulated stablecoins, and more.” In the Sunday announcement, the companies revealed that SBI Group and Japanese financial services companies will “leverage Chainlink services, including the Cross-Chain Interoperability Protocol (CCIP), SmartData (NAV), and Proof of Reserve to unlock secondary market liquidity and enhance the operational efficiency of tokenized assets” while ensuring privacy and compliance requirements. Is A Drop To $20 Next? Analyst Ali Martinez affirmed that Chainlink will test a key support level before a massive breakout. The market watcher highlighted a four-year symmetrical triangle formation on the altcoin’s chart, which targets a 280% increase once it breaks out. LINK has retested the pattern’s upper boundary twice since the Q4 2024 rally, briefly breaking above the crucial resistance last week. As it failed to confirm the breakout, the analyst suggested that Chainlink will experience one more dip before aiming for the $95-$100 area. Per the chart, this dip could target the next crucial support level around the $20 area, a 15% decline from current levels. Previously, analyst Rekt Capital noted that continued stability at the $23.86 level will be important, adding that a monthly close above this level is crucial for LINK’s rally. Failing to reclaim this area in the monthly timeframe could lead to a deeper pullback toward the $19.41 level, not seen since the early August breakout. Related Reading: Here’s What Powell’s Possible Rate Cuts Could Mean For The Shiba Inu Price Meanwhile, Alex Clay affirmed that Chainlink “is the next ETH,” pointing out some similarities between the two charts. According to the analyst, both cryptocurrencies have been accumulating in a multi-year triangle formation, and LINK could follow Ethereum’s steps once it officially reclaims the pattern’s resistance. Notably, after breaking out of this pattern last month, ETH confirmed the resistance as support and hit a new all-time high (ETH) last week. As of this writing, LINK is trading at $23.52, a 8.5% drop in the weekly timeframe. Featured Image from Unsplash.com, Chart from TradingView.com