SBI Completes Bitbank Takeover, Making Japanese Exchange a Subsidiary

SBI Holdings completed its acquisition of Japanese crypto exchange Bitbank on Oct. 1, making it a wholly owned subsidiary and placing it in the same group as SBI VC Trade.

The acquisition cost ¥46.7 billion. SBI estimated that SBI VC Trade and Bitbank together represented about ¥1.1 trillion in assets under custody and 2.92 million crypto asset accounts, based on figures from April 30, 2026. These are simple aggregates of the two businesses’ figures at that time, not post-acquisition totals.

The deal proceeded in stages. SBI subsidiary SBICAH GK acquired 53,704 shares from Bitbank CEO Noriyuki Hirosue and other individual shareholders, then subscribed to 48,952 newly issued shares. Bitbank used the proceeds to buy back shares held by MIXI Inc. and CERES Inc., completing the takeover.

SBI announced the planned acquisition on June 25, 2026. Its stated rationale included bringing together the exchanges’ customer bases, product development, security and compliance resources, while expanding services involving digital assets, stablecoins and on-chain finance.

The planned transaction was subject to Japan Fair Trade Commission clearance and other closing conditions. The Oct. 1 completion notice confirmed the deal had closed.