SBI Holdings Strengthens Japan Crypto Leadership With $289M Bitbank Acquisition

SBI Holdings is making its biggest move yet in Japan's cryptocurrency sector with its planned $289 million acquisition of licensed crypto exchange Bitbank, a deal that further strengthens the financial giant's position in the country's rapidly evolving digital asset market.

According to investment bank Architect Partners, the acquisition highlights SBI's long-term strategy of expanding through mergers and acquisitions instead of relying on organic growth. Over the past several years, SBI has steadily consolidated its crypto operations by integrating TaoTao in 2020, acquiring DMM Bitcoin's customer accounts and custody assets in 2024, and absorbing Bitpoint Japan earlier this year after taking full ownership of the exchange in 2023.

With Bitbank joining the group, SBI's combined crypto platform would oversee approximately 1.1 trillion yen ($6.8 billion) in assets under custody while serving nearly 2.9 million customer accounts. Bitbank alone manages around 570 billion yen in client assets across roughly 960,000 accounts, making it one of Japan's largest licensed cryptocurrency exchanges.

Architect Partners believes the acquisition signals further consolidation ahead for Japan's regulated crypto market. Steve Payne, co-founder and partner at Architect Partners, said more mergers are likely as rising compliance costs make it increasingly difficult for smaller exchanges to remain competitive. He identified privately owned bitFlyer as a potential future acquisition target, adding that overseas crypto companies seeking entry into Japan may find it faster and more cost-effective to acquire licensed exchanges rather than build operations from scratch.

SBI Holdings, valued at roughly $11 billion, has built one of the most comprehensive digital asset ecosystems among traditional financial institutions. Its businesses span securities, banking, insurance, asset management, venture capital, blockchain infrastructure, tokenization, stablecoins and cryptocurrency trading.

The Bitbank acquisition also gives SBI access to valuable regulated infrastructure, including a Financial Services Agency-licensed exchange, one of Japan's largest altcoin liquidity pools, and Japan Digital Asset Trust, an institutional crypto custody business. Architect Partners noted that replicating these capabilities internally would require significantly more time and investment.

The deal comes as Japan prepares sweeping regulatory reforms for the cryptocurrency industry. Legislation approved by the country's lower house in June would bring crypto assets under the Financial Instruments and Exchange Act, aligning digital assets more closely with securities regulation. The proposed framework would introduce a flat 20% tax on crypto gains, open the door for spot Bitcoin, Ether and XRP exchange-traded funds, and impose stricter capital, custody and disclosure requirements on licensed exchanges.

Those tougher regulations are expected to accelerate industry consolidation. Architect Partners estimates that nearly 90% of Japan's licensed crypto exchanges are already unprofitable, with as many as half of the country's 27 registered exchanges potentially exiting the market over time.

Although Bitbank reported a 27% decline in revenue and an operating loss in fiscal 2025, SBI agreed to pay roughly eight times annual revenue. The valuation is comparable to Coinbase's revenue multiple in its acquisition of Deribit, reflecting the strategic value of obtaining a regulated market position rather than focusing on near-term earnings.

Alongside the acquisition announcement, SBI also unveiled several digital asset initiatives, including the distribution of Ripple's RLUSD stablecoin in Japan, a Visa-branded crypto rewards card, and a stablecoin payment service. Together, these moves reinforce SBI's ambition to build a fully integrated digital asset ecosystem covering crypto trading, custody, tokenization, payments and blockchain-based settlement services.