What to know:
- SBI plans a full bitbank takeover through a ¥46.7B staged acquisition deal.
- The deal will merge bitbank with SBI VC Trade and expand Japan’s crypto custody.
- Bitbank users will keep existing services as SBI awaits regulatory approval.
SBI bitbank acquisition plans moved ahead after SBI Holdings approved a deal to take full control of Japanese crypto exchange bitbank. The transaction would make bitbank a wholly owned subsidiary. It strengthens SBI’s role in Japan’s regulated digital asset sector.
The company said its board approved the agreement on June 25. The deal involves bitbank, CEO Noriyuki Hirosue, MIXI, Ceres, and other shareholders. SBI will carry out the transaction through SBICAH GK, a wholly owned unit.
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SBI bitbank Acquisition to Proceed in Two Stages
According to SBI, the total acquisition cost is estimated at ¥46.7 billion. The cost covers the costs of the share transfer and also the capital increase fund. The SBI bitbank acquisition will move through two main stages before final control.
The first step involves the acquisition of 53,704 bitbank shares by SBICAH. Hirosue and individual shareholders will sell their shares. SBI anticipates that the process will take place in August 2026.
The next phase will consist of allocation by a third party of 48,952 new shares to SBICAH. The expected time for that is around October 2026. Then, Bitbank will use the raised funds to repurchase the shares owned by MIXI and Ceres.
The shares purchased by Bitbank will be put aside as treasury shares. Upon completion of the process, SBI plans to own 100% of the voting rights of bitbank indirectly. The closing is conditional upon review by the Japan Fair Trade Commission, among other usual requirements.
SBI Strengthens Crypto Business With bitbank Deal
The SBI bitbank acquisition will merge bitbank and SBI VC Trade. According to SBI, the combined entity will control ¥1.1 trillion of customer funds under custody. In addition, the entity will manage 2.92 million crypto accounts.
As reported earlier, the SBI bitbank acquisition is another step for SBI after negotiations between SBI and bitbank that started in May. It is also the step after SBI VC Trade merged with Bitpoint Japan in April 2026.
Bitbank gives SBI another established exchange brand in the country. The platform provides services related to spot trading, lending, and crypto payments. The financial conglomerate provides banking, securities, insurance, and digital asset services.
According to SBI, bitbank had zero cases of hacking from its inception. The company says that such a track record may enable better cryptocurrency asset-related services. SBI also says that an SBI bitbank acquisition can improve user trust.
SBI Expands Beyond Crypto Trading
In addition to crypto-related services, SBI talked about other areas of interest. The company wants to develop services for stablecoins and on-chain finance. The latter can be implemented once SBI acquires bitbank.
At the beginning of the year, SBI and Startale introduced Strium. This Layer 1 blockchain is designed to tokenize securities, foreign exchange operations, and real-world assets. One of the parts of this project was a regulated yen stablecoin via Shinsei Trust & Banking.
SBI has been expanding its crypto-related retail products via collaboration with Visa, SBI VC Trade, and Aplus. The card product allows earning rewards in Bitcoin, Ethereum, and XRP. For bitbank users, existing services are expected to continue during the SBI bitbank acquisition process.
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