SBI Holdings has signed a basic agreement and share transfer agreement to acquire all shares of Bitbank, moving the Japanese crypto exchange toward becoming a wholly owned subsidiary of SBI Group.
Summary
- SBI’s Bitbank deal pushes Japan’s crypto exchange market toward deeper consolidation under large financial groups.
- Bitbank said existing services will continue unchanged as it prepares to become an SBI subsidiary.
- The acquisition follows SBI’s Bitpoint merger and broader crypto payments push across Japan this year.
Bitbank announced the agreement on June 24 and said the transaction is part of its planned entry into SBI Group. The exchange said there will be no effect on its existing services, and customers can continue using the platform as usual.
The deal follows earlier talks between SBI Holdings and Bitbank over a capital and business alliance. Those talks had already pointed to a possible share acquisition that would bring Bitbank into SBI’s group structure.
SBI said in May that it wanted to bring Bitbank into the group and use internal synergies to build a stronger position in Japan’s crypto industry. The latest agreement moves that plan from talks to a formal transaction path.
Japan exchange consolidation accelerates
As previously reported, SBI Holdings started talks to acquire Bitbank in May as Japan’s crypto market moved toward faster consolidation. The earlier report said the planned transaction would make Bitbank a consolidated SBI subsidiary through a share purchase.
The move also came soon after SBI VC Trade absorbed Bitpoint Japan in April 2026. That merger allowed SBI to combine more crypto exchange resources under one group and reduce overlap across its digital asset businesses.
Bitbank adds a larger exchange brand to SBI’s crypto footprint. The company has operated in Japan’s regulated crypto market for years and has built services around spot trading, lending, and crypto-linked payments.
For SBI, full ownership could support a wider product strategy across exchange trading, rewards, settlement, stablecoins, and tokenized assets. The group already operates major banking, securities, insurance, and digital asset businesses in Japan.
Bitbank services remain unchanged
Bitbank said users will not see service disruption from the agreement. The exchange said customers can continue trading and using platform services as before while the acquisition process moves forward.
That message may help reduce concerns among users over account access, trading pairs, or custody changes. Crypto exchange acquisitions often raise questions about platform migration, fee changes, or product overlap.
Bitbank did not announce immediate changes to its brand, trading operations, or customer terms in the update. The company framed the agreement as a corporate step toward joining SBI Group.
The transaction still places Bitbank’s future ownership under a larger financial institution. That could shape future product decisions once the deal closes and the companies align operations.
SBI builds broader crypto strategy
Previously, crypto.news explored Bitbank’s exchange-settled crypto credit card, launched with EPOS Card. The card allows users to settle monthly credit card bills using bitcoin held on Bitbank and offers 0.5% cashback in bitcoin, ether, or Aster.
In our last update, crypto.news examined SBI’s Bitcoin, Ethereum, and XRP rewards card push, launched with Visa and Aplus. That product links daily card spending with crypto rewards through SBI VC Trade.
As crypto.news reported earlier today, Ripple and SBI launched RLUSD in Japan after Japan Financial Services Agency approval. The launch brought Ripple’s dollar-backed stablecoin to Japanese users through SBI VC Trade.
These moves show SBI’s broader digital asset plan in Japan. The group is not only adding exchange capacity. It is also linking crypto to cards, stablecoins, rewards, and regulated financial services.
Japan’s crypto market is also moving through a regulatory reset. Authorities have been reviewing how crypto assets fit into financial markets, funds, and investor products. Large financial groups may benefit if tighter rules raise the cost of operating smaller standalone platforms.
Bitbank’s full acquisition would give SBI another route to serve crypto users under a larger regulated structure. The next steps will depend on closing conditions, internal approvals, and any required regulatory procedures.
