Tokyo based financial giant SBI Holdings is in talks to acquire a stake in crypto exchange Bitbank amid a push towards expanding its crypto footprint in the company.
The potential acquisition, announced on Friday, will see Bitbank become SBI’s wholly owned unit via a capital and business alliance.
SBI’s move comes at a very strategic time given that Japan is at the edge of expanding towards securities-style rules for digital assets. The nation at present sits on a massive 12.41 million digital asset userbase, which covers nearly 15 percent of its entire adult population.
Parallel to Japan’s growth, SBI has been investing heavily in the crypto market in hopes of roping in profits from the ever expanding sector.
SBI says deal still has hurdles
The proposed acquisition is still in its infancy, with SBI Holdings noting that the transaction remains subject to several parameters. These include due diligence, negotiation, internal approval, and the absence of a “market monopoly tag”.
In other words, the two parties are still analyzing the financial details and risks, with synergies involved, and it is uncertain whether the transaction will be concluded.
The current talks take place amid a consolidation drive, with SBI VC Trade merging with Bitpoint Japan, where SBI VC Trade emerges as the surviving company effective April 1. Should SBI make good on the acquisition, it will greatly enhance its dominance in the Japanese crypto exchange landscape.
The deal is also taking place at a very critical juncture, as regulators in Japan are set to enact rules regarding crypto assets by placing them under the purview of the Financial Instruments and Exchange Act. The new law will look at virtual assets with the same lens as traditional finance, aiding crypto exchanges with easier rules.
The financial conglomerate also highlighted that if the purchase was to go through, it would provide the firm an “overwhelming position in the domestic cryptocurrency industry.”
Additionally, SBI has also made a $50 million investment in Circle’s IPO in June 2025. In previous years, SBI also made strategic investments in other crypto-native companies, including BITPoint Japan, Sygnum Bank and crypto exchange TaoTao, which later merged into SBI VC Trade.
SBI’s new acquisition comes as Japan strengthens crypto rules
SBI has been banking all its deals on the growth of Japan’s crypto reforms. The nation has seen institutional interest in digital assets grow and regulators are now considering how cryptocurrency might integrate into the country’s financial markets.
In January, Japanese Finance Minister Satsuki Katayama signalled his intention to bring cryptocurrency under the same umbrella as traditional financial assets, ensuring that residents “benefit from digital and blockchain-based assets.”
According to a January report, the nation plans to legalise bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) by 2028. Large financial giants such as SBI Holdings and Nomura are anticipated to be among the first to launch crypto-linked ETFs.