SBI Holdings acquires Bitbank for 46.7 billion yen (USD 288.6 million). As a result, the group secures the leading position among Japan's crypto exchange operators by assets under management. The Japanese financial group is purchasing the platform in full through a wholly owned subsidiary.
Bitbank ranks among the oldest licensed crypto exchanges in Japan. The platform is registered with the Kanto Local Finance Bureau (No. 00004), belongs to the self-regulatory organization JVCEA, and offers spot trading in Bitcoin, Ethereum, and other crypto assets. It was founded in May 2014, initially under the name bitcheck, Inc., and today reports founding capital of 8.6 billion yen. In 2021, the company received a capital injection of 7.5 billion yen from the gaming group MIXI and the marketing service provider Ceres. Both are now selling their stakes as part of the deal. The sellers are founder and CEO Noriyuki Hirosue with 30.69 percent and MIXI with 26.99 percent. In addition, Ceres is exiting with 23.05 percent. The buyer is SBI's wholly owned subsidiary SBICAH GK, which will hold all voting rights once the transaction closes.
Subscribe to our newsletter
The best articles of the week, directly delivered into your mailbox.
Two-stage transaction subject to JFTC clearance
SBI first announced formal talks about a consolidation of Bitbank in May 2026. At the end of June 2026, both sides then signed a basic agreement as well as a share transfer agreement. This document sets the framework for the full takeover. The transaction subsequently proceeds in two stages. First, SBICAH acquires the shares held by the founder and individual shareholders, scheduled for August 2026. By the end of October 2026, Bitbank then buys back the stakes held by MIXI and Ceres itself. Consequently, both financiers from 2021 exit completely.
The purchase price of 46.7 billion yen comes from media reports and is not explicitly quantified in the official SBI statement. SBI will likely publish the sum only once the transaction formally closes. Moreover, completion is subject to clearance by the Japan Fair Trade Commission (JFTC) as well as further conditions. Accordingly, the group expects it for October 2026. However, the acquisition should have only a minor effect on SBI's group results for the fiscal year through March 2027. Bitbank, in turn, stresses one point. Since its founding in 2014, it has not lost any customer assets to hacking incidents. Within Japan's heavily regulated market structure, this security record counts as a weighty argument for trust.
Market leadership with 1.1 trillion yen in assets under management
Once the deal closes, SBI VC Trade and Bitbank together manage crypto customer assets of around 1.1 trillion yen (USD 6.8 billion). This figure is measured as of the end of April 2026. Additionally, the combined number of crypto accounts amounts to about 2.92 million. As a result, SBI claims, by its own account, the top spot among domestic crypto exchange operators by assets under management.
"This would give us first place among domestic crypto exchange operators in terms of assets under management, and one of the leading positions in terms of the number of accounts." - SBI Holdings, official statement
In the Japanese market, the group competes primarily with bitFlyer and Coincheck. MoneyForward and NTT Docomo control the latter. The Bitbank acquisition also marks a new order of magnitude for takeovers in the industry. When the Monex Group acquired the previously hacked exchange Coincheck in 2018, the price stood at just 3.6 billion yen. Consequently, the current deal is around thirteen times higher and reflects the increased maturity of the Japanese crypto market. Behind this purchasing power stands a financially strong buyer. In the fiscal year through March 2026 alone, SBI posted a record crypto profit of 89.6 billion yen.
FIEA reform raises consolidation pressure
The Japanese cabinet passed an amendment to the Financial Instruments and Exchange Act (FIEA) in April 2026. This reform classifies crypto assets as financial instruments for the first time and shifts oversight from the Payment Services Act to the FIEA. The bill currently lies before the national parliament for debate. Furthermore, it is to take effect in 2027 at the earliest, within one year of its promulgation.
Moreover, the reorganization brings significantly stricter obligations. Going forward, bans on insider trading apply for the first time, punishable by up to five years in prison and fines of up to 5 million yen. In addition, disclosure requirements for issuers come into play, as does a re-registration of the existing exchange operators as so-called trading businesses. Stablecoins with a fiat peg, however, remain under the Payment Services Act and fall outside the scope of the FIEA.
These requirements should drive compliance costs up considerably and put smaller platforms under pressure. Therefore, the reform can be read as a structural driver of accelerated market consolidation. With over 13 million crypto accounts, which corresponds to roughly one in ten residents, Japan ranks among the most active markets worldwide. Meanwhile, JVCEA membership remains a binding standard for all licensed exchanges. For well-capitalized players like SBI, the regulatory cost pressure thus lowers the barrier to acquiring smaller competitors.
SBI Holdings acquires Bitbank within a broader digital strategy
The Bitbank acquisition does not stand on its own. As early as April 2026, SBI VC Trade had absorbed its subsidiary Bitpoint Japan in a separate merger. The current takeover thus fits into a series of targeted consolidation steps. Through these steps, the financial group is systematically expanding its position in the domestic market.
At the same time, the group is broadening its product range around stablecoins. SBI VC Trade became the first Japanese company to gain approval as an Electronic Payment Instruments Exchange Service Provider in 2025, and subsequently introduced USDC services in the country. At the end of June 2026, SBI Shinsei Trust Bank and the Startale Group additionally launched JPYSC, Japan's first trust-backed yen stablecoin. It runs as a Type III payment instrument under the amended Payment Services Act. Notably, this change removes the previous cap of 1 million yen for corporate transactions. Through its stake in Ripple Labs, the group is moreover closely tied to the XRP ecosystem. Following FSA approval, it brought the stablecoin RLUSD to Japan via SBI VC Trade.
The group is also expanding its presence internationally. According to its own statements, SBI is building a majority stake in the Singapore-based provider Coinhako at the same time as the Bitbank transaction. In sum, the group is thus forming a crypto ecosystem that ranges from regulated trading infrastructure through stablecoins to exchange trading. Bitbank rounds out this structure with one of the country's oldest exchanges, one with an unblemished security record.
