SBI Holdings acquires Bitbank for $288.6 million: merging assets worth $6.8 billion
Japanese financial giant SBI Holdings has officially signed an agreement to acquire the cryptocurrency exchange Bitbank. The deal is valued at 46.7 billion yen, equivalent to approximately $288.6 million at the current exchange rate. The purchase will be carried out through its subsidiary SBICAH LLC.
The closing of the deal is expected in October 2026, but it will only become possible after receiving approval from Japan's antitrust regulator and fulfilling a number of other legal conditions. Upon completion of all procedures, Bitbank will become an indirect 100% subsidiary of SBI Holdings.
Scale of Consolidation
Of particular note are the combined metrics of the two platforms. According to the company's estimates, if the assets of SBI VC Trade (already owned by SBI) and Bitbank are combined, the total volume of client crypto assets under management will reach 1.1 trillion yen — approximately $6.8 billion. The number of serviced accounts will exceed 2.92 million.
This deal is a vivid example of ongoing institutional consolidation in the Asian crypto market. SBI Holdings has been consistently expanding its presence in digital assets, and the acquisition of Bitbank makes them one of the dominant players in Japan. In my view, the combination of such volumes of liquidity and client base will create a significant synergistic effect, especially amid tightening regulation and growing competition from international platforms.