The Asia Web3 Alliance Japan (AWAJ) and Web3 Salon have launched the JFIIP initiative in collaboration with Ripple Labs and major Japanese financial corporations.
This is an accelerator program that is meant to fund Japanese startups that are building “compliant” financial solutions on the XRP Ledger (XRPL).
The main goal is to bridge the gap between traditional finance (TradFi) and Web3 while developing institutional-grade blockchain solutions.
This program focuses strictly on “compliant finance,” which sets it apart from run-of-the-mill crypto hackathons.
It targets startups that are capable of building tools that come in handy for actual banks and financial institutions.
The key focus areas include leveraging Ripple’s payment infrastructure (including RLUSD), tokenizing physical assets (real estate, bonds, commodities), and credit infrastructure.
Heavy-hitters
The significance of this program lies in the list of “Strategic Corporate Partners.” The list of strategic corporate partners includes Mizuho Bank, SMBC Nikko Securities (two megabanks), as well as Securitize Japan, the leader in tokenizing real-world assets (RWAs), and HIRAC FUND, a venture capital fund focused on digital innovation.
Benefits for startups
For startups, the immediate capital is modest (a grant of roughly $10,000 or 1.55 million JPY). That said, the cash is rather secondary in this case. The real alpha is the access: a priority fast-track to Ripple’s massive global grant pool and, more importantly, direct mentorship from the most important bankers.
Big in Japan
The announcement shows that Japan has a uniquely favorable environment for this program for two reasons. Unlike the US, Japan has established clear rules for crypto assets, stablecoins, and tokenized securities. Japanese institutions of the likes of Mizuho and SMBC are actively seeking blockchain solutions to modernize their infrastructure.
Ripple is working on developing actual apps and use cases for the ledger beyond just sending XRP.
Partnering with Mizuho and SMBC shows that major Japanese banks are specifically looking at the XRP Ledger for their future infrastructure needs (RWAs and payments).