SBI to acquire Bitbank in $289M deal creating Japan's biggest crypto exchange
SBI Holdings has agreed to buy full indirect control of Bitbank for 46.7 billion yen ($289 million), a deal expected to close around October pending regulatory approval. SBI’s subsidiary SBICAH will acquire shares from Bitbank’s CEO and other holders, then the exchange will repurchase shares owned by MIXI and Ceres, leaving SBI with 100% ownership. The acquisition would strengthen SBI’s regulated crypto exchange business and broaden its customer base, adding another 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 Japan’s largest exchange by assets under custody and one of the largest by accounts. The deal fits SBI’s wider push into digital assets, including a new blockchain for tokenized securities and recent launches of the yen stablecoin JPYSC and Ripple USD in Japan.
