SBI Holdings is acquiring Japanese cryptocurrency exchange Bitbank in a deal worth 46.7 billion yen, about $289 million, that the financial group says will make it the largest crypto exchange in Japan by assets under custody. Decrypt reported the announcement on June 25, 2026, and Cointelegraph put the same figures behind it. The transaction was first disclosed in May and is expected to close around October, subject to regulatory clearance.
The timing is pointed. Bitcoin traded at $59,454 as of June 25, 2026, down 2.0% on the day and 5.8% on the week, with the Fear and Greed Index sitting at 16, deep in extreme fear. SBI is spending nine figures to expand a regulated crypto franchise on a day the broader market is selling off.
SBI pays 46.7 billion yen for full control
SBI is taking 100% of Bitbank through a multi-step structure. A wholly owned SBI subsidiary will acquire shares from Bitbank chief executive Noriyuki Hirosue and other holders, then subscribe to a third-party share allotment. After that, Bitbank buys back the shares held by existing investors Mixi and Ceres, leaving SBI with full indirect ownership. The share purchases begin in August, with the buyback and final close targeted for around October once regulators sign off.
This is not SBI's first contact with Bitbank. The group already held a stake and ran its own exchange arm, SBI VC Trade, in parallel. The acquisition removes the wall between the two and folds Bitbank's customer base into a single regulated operator.
A combined book of 1.1 trillion yen and 2.92 million accounts
The number that matters is scale. SBI says its total crypto custodial balance will pass 1 trillion yen once the deal closes. Adding Bitbank to SBI VC Trade gives the group roughly 1.1 trillion yen in assets under custody and about 2.92 million crypto accounts, based on end-of-April figures. That combination ranks first among Japanese exchanges by assets under custody and puts it among the largest by account count.
For context on what SBI is buying, Bitbank is a custody base more than a trading engine. Its daily volume has stayed below $50 million for the four months leading up to the announcement, dominated by BTC against the yen at 39.5%, with XRP and ETH pairs each near 19.7%. SBI is acquiring accounts, balances and a regulated license footprint rather than a high-velocity order book.
Stablecoins and tokenization sit behind the deal
The acquisition reads as one piece of a wider build. SBI described the enlarged exchange as another distribution channel for stablecoins, tokenized assets and on-chain financial products. The same day the Bitbank news broke, SBI VC Trade launched JPYSC, a yen-pegged stablecoin issued by SBI Shinsei Trust Bank, and began distributing Ripple USD in Japan for both institutional and retail customers.
Put together, that is a regulated stack: an exchange to onboard users, custody to hold balances, and stablecoins to move value across it. Bitbank's XRP-heavy order book also lines up with the RLUSD rollout, since both lean on Ripple-linked rails that already have an audience in Japan. For anyone watching how stablecoin payment rails get built inside a licensed institution rather than a startup, SBI is assembling most of the parts in one place.
Closing depends on October regulatory clearance
The deal is announced, not done. Completion hinges on regulatory clearance expected around October, and Japan's Financial Services Agency has a track record of slow, conditional approvals for crypto consolidation. The August share purchases can proceed on schedule, but the structure only resolves into full SBI ownership after the buyback and sign-off.
There is also a counterparty point worth keeping in view. A larger regulated custodian concentrates more user balances under one corporate roof. That can mean stronger oversight and clearer recourse, and it also means more assets sitting with a single operator, the same trade-off that applies to any custodial venue. The 1.1 trillion yen figure is an argument for SBI's reach and a reminder of how much sits on its books.
Overview
SBI Holdings is paying 46.7 billion yen, roughly $289 million, to fully acquire Bitbank and create Japan's largest crypto exchange by assets under custody. Combined with SBI VC Trade, the group expects about 1.1 trillion yen under custody and 2.92 million accounts. Share purchases start in August, with the close targeted for around October pending regulatory clearance. The deal arrived the same day SBI launched the JPYSC yen stablecoin and RLUSD in Japan, the clearest sign yet that the group is wiring an exchange, custody and stablecoins into one regulated system.
