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SBI Holdings to Buy Bitbank for $289M in Japan Crypto Push
SBI Holdings is buying Bitbank for ¥46.7 billion ($289 million), creating Japan's largest crypto exchange operator by assets under custody. The deal requires antitrust clearance.
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SBI Holdings is buying all shares of crypto exchange Bitbank for ¥46.7 billion ($289 million), a deal that would make the combined group Japan's largest exchange operator by assets under custody.
The acquisition runs through SBICAH, a wholly owned SBI subsidiary. Starting around August, SBICAH will purchase shares from Bitbank founder and CEO Noriyuki Hirosue and other individual shareholders, according to an SBI Holdings announcement.
Bitbank will then use proceeds from a third-party share allocation to buy back stakes held by MIXI and Ceres, its two largest corporate investors, which own 26.2% and 22.4%, respectively, per SBI's disclosure. Those buybacks are projected to wrap up around October 2026. Once complete, SBI will hold 100% of Bitbank's voting rights indirectly through SBICAH.
The transaction still needs antitrust clearance from Japan's Fair Trade Commission, SBI said.
Based on figures from the end of April 2026, combining SBI VC Trade and Bitbank would give SBI roughly ¥1.1 trillion (about $6.8 billion) in assets under custody and approximately 2.92 million crypto accounts. That would rank it first among domestic exchange operators by custodied assets, according to SBI's own estimates, ahead of rivals bitFlyer and Coincheck.