Japanese financial giant SBI Holdings has agreed to acquire crypto exchange Bitbank in a deal valued at 46.7 billion yen ($320 million), further growing its presence in Japan’s digital asset market.
According to the company, an SBI subsidiary will begin purchasing shares from Bitbank’s founder and other individual shareholders as early as August. Shares held by existing investors, including MIXI and Ceres, are expected to be acquired by the end of October. The acquisition follows an announcement in May that SBI had entered discussions on a capital and business alliance with Bitbank.
SBI bought bitbank officially and became the largest crypto exchange in Japan when it comes to AUM.
Let’s go! https://t.co/v1a3uwwpk0
— Sota Watanabe (@WatanabeSota) June 25, 2026
Once completed, SBI’s combined crypto business, including its existing exchange SBI VC Trade, will hold about 2.92 million customer accounts and approximately 1.1 trillion yen in assets under management.
That would place SBI ahead of several major domestic competitors. BitFlyer reported roughly 960 billion yen in customer assets at the end of 2025, while Coincheck held around 800 billion yen as of March 2025.
Competition grows among Japanese exchanges
Japan’s crypto market has become increasingly competitive as exchanges prepare for greater institutional participation and possible future crypto investment products. Large financial groups have been expanding their digital asset businesses through partnerships, acquisitions, and new services aimed at both retail and professional investors.
For SBI, the Bitbank deal adds a large customer base, additional trading volume, and a stronger position in one of the world’s most regulated crypto markets.
Previous deals brought new products and larger customer bases
Acquisitions have played an important role in Japan’s crypto industry over the past several years. When financial firms acquired exchanges in earlier deals, the focus often extended beyond customer growth. New owners frequently introduced additional products, expanded banking connections, improved custody services, and increased institutional offerings.
The Bitbank acquisition could create similar opportunities. SBI already operates across banking, securities, payments, and digital assets. Bringing Bitbank into that network may allow the group to offer more integrated services to crypto users while lowering operating costs across its platforms.
Japanese regulators and financial institutions continue examining crypto ETFs, tokenized assets, and digital asset investment products. Larger operators with stronger balance sheets may be better positioned to launch those services if regulations permit them in the coming years.
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