SBI to acquire Bitbank in $289M deal creating Japan's biggest crypto exchange
SBI Holdings agreed to buy full control of Japanese crypto exchange Bitbank in a 46.7 billion yen ($289 million) deal, aiming to create Japan’s largest crypto exchange. SBI’s subsidiary SBICAH will buy shares from Bitbank’s CEO and other holders, then Bitbank will repurchase shares from MIXI and Ceres, giving SBI 100% indirect ownership if regulators approve the transaction, expected to close around October. The acquisition would expand SBI’s regulated exchange business and provide a bigger distribution channel for stablecoins, tokenized assets and other onchain financial products. SBI said combining Bitbank with SBI VC Trade would give the group about 1.1 trillion yen in assets under custody and roughly 2.92 million crypto accounts, making it the top Japanese exchange by assets and one of the largest by accounts. The deal fits SBI’s broader push into digital asset infrastructure, including blockchain, stablecoins and tokenized markets.
