SBI Holdings has agreed to acquire Japanese cryptocurrency exchange Bitbank for JPY 46.7 billion, a deal that would make the financial conglomerate the largest domestic crypto asset custodian by assets under custody.
The Tokyo-listed firm said its board resolved on Wednesday to enter into a basic agreement and share transfer agreement to acquire Bitbank through its wholly owned subsidiary SBICAH GK, with the transaction expected to complete in or around October 2026, subject to clearance from the Japan Fair Trade Commission.
Upon completion, the combined entity would hold approximately JPY 1.1 trillion in assets under custody and around 2.92 million crypto asset accounts, based on a simple aggregation of figures from SBI VC Trade and Bitbank as of April 30, 2026.Ā
SBI said the combined group would rank first among domestic crypto asset exchange providers by assets under custody.
Bitbank, founded in 2014 and led by CEO Noriyuki Hirosue, operates the bitbank crypto exchange and has maintained a zero hacking incident record since its founding. Its major shareholders include Hirosue with a 30.86% stake, MIXI Inc. with 26.22% and CERES Inc. with 22.39%.
SBI said the deal would allow both companies to mutually leverage customer bases, security frameworks and service development capabilities, while expanding into stablecoins and on-chain finance. Bitbank reported a net loss of JPY 696 million in fiscal year 2025, following net income of JPY 2.1 billion in 2024.
SBI said the transaction’s impact on its consolidated financial results for the fiscal year ending March 31, 2027, is expected to be minor.
