SBI VC Trade, a cryptocurrency exchange arm of Japanese financial giant SBI Holdings, has announced a lending campaign for the Shiba Inu (SHIB) meme cryptocurrency. 

The annual interest rate for lending the second-biggest meme coin amounts to 1.5%. 

The application deadline has been set for Aug. 1. The lending period will last until Aug. 29. 

The interest rate offered for the SHIB meme coin is significantly higher compared to such cryptocurrencies as Chainlink (LINK) and Litecoin (LTC). The annual rate for these cryptocurrencies amounts to 0.5%. At the same time, SBI VC Trade offers a minuscule 0.1% rate for those who lend the Ripple-affiliated XRP cryptocurrency. 

The lending service, which is called VC Trade Lending, was launched back in November 2020. Following its launch, the service initially supported only Bitcoin, the leading cryptocurrency. However, it then went on to expand the list of cryptocurrencies that are available for lending with Ethereum (ETH) and other altcoins. 

Shiba Inu, which gained prominence during the 2021 bull run, has a rather strong presence in Japan with a vibrant community. 

After BitPoint became the first Japanese digital asset trading platform to list SHIB, several other major trading platforms threw their support behind the token. SBI VC Trade, for instance, listed SHIB back in June 2023.  

As reported by U.Today, Tokyo-based platform Coincheck also added support for the second-biggest cryptocurrency last December. 

According to CoinGecko data, the meme cryptocurrency is currently valued at $11 billion, which makes it the 13th biggest digital asset.