Major Japanese companies are continuing to buy Bitcoin (BTC) and altcoins with their balance sheets, with the mobile gaming firm Gumi poised to spend 2.5 billion yen ($17 million) on XRP purchases.
Per an official Gumi release and a report from the Japanese media outlet CoinPost, the Tokyo Stock Exchange-listed firm’s board of directors has signed off on the move.
The firm said it aims to complete the purchase before the end of February next year. Gumi’s largest shareholder is SBI Holdings.
SBI is a long-term partner of the XRP issuer Ripple, and an ardent advocate of the altcoin. But Gumi has also proven to be extremely Bitcoin-keen.
The firm announced plans to buy over $6.5 million worth of Bitcoin back in February. And in March this year, Gumi held a $106,000 BTC lottery event for its newest shareholders.
Gumi officials said that the future XRP buy is not purely speculative. Instead, it called the move a “strategic initiative” that would allow it to move into the financial sector.
The company claimed its move would help it participate in the XRP ecosystem. This ecosystem, officials aid, is now playing a central role in international remittances and liquidity networks.
Developing cross-border remittances and liquidity are values “at the core of” SBI’s operations, Gumi noted.
XRP will thus take on “great significance” as a medium- to long-term growth asset, Gumi believes.
Gumi has also unveiled plans to launch a multi-billion yen crypto management fund in conjunction with SBI.
SBI wants to launch an exchange-traded fund (ETF) that incorporates BTC, XRP, and other tokens. The firm is currently waiting on approval from Tokyo, which continues to deliberate on crypto ETF appoval.
Gumi has also said that it will look to manage its Bitcoin holdings by using staking protocols.
The company has also explained that it sees BTC and XRP as two separate pillars of its growth strategy.
XRP, it said, is a “network asset that is rooted in real financial demand.” Bitcoin, meanwhile, is a “globally universal asset,” Gumi believes.
