Summary
- SBI Holdings is set to acquire Bitbank, a cryptocurrency exchange based in Tokyo, for approximately $289 million, making it a fully owned subsidiary.
- With the integration of SBI VC Trade, the combined entity will manage $6.8 billion in assets and serve 2.92 million accounts.
- The acquisition is pending regulatory approval and is anticipated to be finalized around October.
SBI Holdings, a major player in Japan's financial sector, announced on Thursday its intention to purchase Bitbank, a Tokyo-based cryptocurrency exchange, for a total of about 46.7 billion yen, equivalent to nearly $289 million. This acquisition will allow Bitbank to operate as a wholly owned subsidiary of SBI, and the combined operations are projected to position SBI as the largest cryptocurrency exchange in Japan by asset value.
The board of SBI approved the transaction on Thursday, which involves agreements with Bitbank's CEO Noriyuki Hirosue, various individual shareholders, and the two main corporate shareholders—MIXI Inc. and Ceres Inc.—who collectively own nearly half of Bitbank.
In this arrangement, a newly established subsidiary of SBI will first acquire shares directly from Hirosue and other individual shareholders, followed by subscribing to a new issuance of shares from Bitbank. The funds raised from this new share issuance will be utilized by Bitbank to repurchase and retire the shares held by MIXI and Ceres.
The completion of the deal is projected for October, contingent upon approval from Japan's Fair Trade Commission. SBI has indicated that it will integrate Bitbank's security and compliance frameworks into its existing cryptocurrency operations, particularly through its subsidiary SBI VC Trade.
Upon merging, the two exchanges are expected to manage around 1.1 trillion yen, roughly $6.8 billion, in assets and cater to approximately 2.92 million cryptocurrency accounts, positioning SBI as the largest exchange in Japan by assets under custody and one of the top exchanges by user accounts.
This acquisition reflects ongoing consolidation within Japan's digital asset sector as SBI enhances its strategic approach that encompasses crypto trading, stablecoins, and on-chain finance. While the company anticipates this acquisition will bolster its competitive stance, it expects the effect on its consolidated financial performance for the fiscal year ending in March 2027 to be negligible.
Bitbank reported a net loss for the fiscal year ending December 2025, following two years of profitability, according to the financial details provided in SBI's announcement.