Crypto Giant SBI Holdings Snaps Up Japanese Exchange Bitbank in $288.6M Blockbuster Deal!

SBI Holdings has officially announced the acquisition of all shares in the Japanese cryptocurrency exchange Bitbank, valuing the deal at 46.7 billion yen, approximately $288.6 million. This significant transaction, announced on June 24, will integrate Bitbank as a wholly owned subsidiary of SBI Group through its investment arm, SBICAH GK, marking the most substantial consolidation within Japan’s regulated crypto market to date.

The acquisition is structured in two distinct phases, based on a basic agreement and a share transfer agreement. Initially, SBI plans to acquire shares held by Bitbank’s founders and individual shareholders in August. Following this, Bitbank will proceed to buy out shares from its existing corporate shareholders, MIXI and Ceres, by the end of October. The full ownership transition, however, is expected to conclude around October 2026, contingent upon clearance from the Japan Fair Trade Commission and other standard closing conditions. Bitbank has reassured its users that the acquisition will not impact existing services, allowing them to continue trading and utilizing the platform without any disruption during the ownership transfer process.

This strategic move profoundly reshapes SBI’s standing in Japan’s dynamic digital asset market. With the integration of Bitbank into SBI Group, combined with its existing crypto exchange unit, SBI VC Trade, the newly merged entity is projected to oversee an estimated 2.92 million crypto asset accounts and approximately 1.1 trillion yen, or about $6.8 billion, in assets under custody. This expanded scale will position SBI as Japan’s largest regulated crypto exchange operator, surpassing competitors like bitFlyer and Coincheck in trading volume.

SBI’s ascent to this leading position is the result of a concerted series of acquisitions. Notably, in April 2026, the company’s VC Trade absorbed Bitpoint Japan. The Bitbank acquisition further solidifies this consolidation strategy, bringing into the fold a brand with a strong, long-standing record in Japan’s regulated market, credited with zero hacking incidents since its inception. For Noriyuki Hirosue, Bitbank’s CEO and one of the selling shareholders, this deal signifies an exit for a founder who meticulously built one of Japan’s most trusted exchange brands over more than a decade.

The acquisition unfolds during a period of significant structural transformation within Japan’s crypto industry. Japanese authorities are actively evaluating the possibility of reclassifying digital assets under the Financial Instruments and Exchange Act, a regulatory shift that could become effective as early as fiscal year 2027. Should this reclassification materialize, crypto exchange operators would face more stringent compliance requirements, a scenario that intrinsically favors large, well-capitalized groups like SBI over smaller, independent platforms. SBI has proactively positioned itself to navigate and thrive amidst these anticipated regulatory changes.

Beyond its core exchange operations, SBI Group has demonstrated a broad and diversified engagement in the crypto ecosystem. On the same day the Bitbank deal was announced, the group launched JPYSC, Japan’s inaugural trust bank-backed yen stablecoin. Furthermore, SBI has rolled out a Visa-branded rewards card that converts spending into Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies via SBI VC Trade, and it also successfully co-launched Ripple’s RLUSD dollar stablecoin in Japan. The cumulative effect of these initiatives is the establishment of a comprehensive financial group with extensive exposure across exchange trading, custody services, stablecoins, and crypto-linked payment solutions, all achieved through an aggressive pace of deal-making that few competitors in Japan can currently match.