SBI Crypto to Close Bitcoin Mining Pool on July 31

TLDR

• SBI will close its Bitcoin mining pool after five years of operations.
• Miners must redirect hashrate before the July 31 shutdown date.
• SBI Crypto ranked among the top global Bitcoin mining pool operators.
• The exit follows SBI’s broader shift toward exchanges and stablecoins.
• SBI is expanding through Bitbank, JPYSC, and Ripple’s RLUSD plans.

SBI will shut down its Bitcoin mining pool on July 31, ending a five-year mining operation. The move shifts attention toward SBI’s wider crypto strategy, which now leans more toward exchanges and stablecoins. The closure also removes a known Japanese corporate player from the global Bitcoin mining pool market.

SBI Crypto Sets July 31 Shutdown Date

SBI Crypto said it will stop accepting mining shares at 22:00 UTC on July 30. The company will then end pool operations on July 31, giving miners a short period to move hashrate. SBI Crypto did not give a public reason for the shutdown.

The company asked miners to keep sending hashrate until the final cutoff. This step should help the pool calculate final rewards and complete remaining payouts. Therefore, miners still connected to the pool need to manage migration before operations stop.

SBI Crypto launched the Bitcoin mining pool in March 2021, during a competitive mining cycle. At that time, larger operators such as F2Pool, Poolin, and Binance Pool controlled major market share. The pool later became one of Japan’s better-known corporate mining operations.

Mining Pool Ranked Among Global Operators

SimpleMining data showed SBI Crypto ranked as the 12th largest Bitcoin mining pool globally. The pool controlled about 21.46 exahashes per second and around 2.24% of Bitcoin network share. That placed it far behind the largest global mining pools.

Foundry USA led the market with about 24.49% of total network share. AntPool followed with around 19.05%, while ViaBTC and MARA Pool held smaller positions. As a result, SBI Crypto remained a mid-sized player in a heavily concentrated mining market.

The pool had also changed operations before the closure notice. It adjusted payout schedules and temporarily suspended Litecoin and Dogecoin mining support. Earlier, SBI Crypto had added merged mining support for LTC and DOGE in July 2023.

Focus Turns to Exchanges and Stablecoins

SBI directed miners toward Braiins, Luxor Pool, and NeoPool as possible alternatives. Braiins and Luxor already operate as established mid-tier mining infrastructure providers. NeoPool, however, does not rank among the top pools by global hashrate.

The mining exit comes as SBI expands other parts of its cryptocurrency business. SBI Holdings recently agreed to acquire full control of Bitbank in a 46.7 billion yen deal. The transaction could help the group build one of Japan’s largest crypto exchanges.

SBI has also increased its stablecoin activity through several partnerships and product plans. The group has backed JPYSC, a Japanese yen stablecoin tied to trust bank infrastructure. It has also supported Ripple’s plan to roll out RLUSD in Japan.