SBI completes $289 million bitbank takeover in Japan crypto push

SBI Holdings finished buying Japanese crypto exchange bitbank on October 1, taking full ownership in a deal worth about 46.7 billion yen, roughly $289 million. By its own count, SBI now leads Japan's crypto market by the assets it holds for customers.

Completion came on October 1, 2026, the company said. SBI first agreed the deal back in June. Regulators cleared it.

What SBI bought, and for how much

The purchase values bitbank at about 46.7 billion yen, around $289 million at the rate when the deal was struck. Dollar estimates have drifted between roughly $288 million and $295 million as the yen moved. The yen figure held. SBI bought the exchange through its subsidiary SBICAH, taking shares from founder and chief executive Noriyuki Hirosue and other holders, issuing new stock, then having bitbank repurchase shares from earlier investors MIXI and Ceres.

SBICAH was the vehicle at each stage. Buying in steps, rather than in one lump, spread the transfer over several moves instead of a single purchase.

Among Japan's exchanges, bitbank ranked as one of the more prominent before the sale, part of why SBI wanted it. The deal needed clearance from the Japan Fair Trade Commission, the country's antitrust regulator. That clearance came through. Only then could the final step, bitbank's share buyback from MIXI and Ceres, complete the takeover.

How big SBI's crypto arm is now

Combined with SBI VC Trade, the group's existing exchange unit, SBI expects to hold about 1.1 trillion yen in crypto assets for customers, close to $6.8 billion, across some 2.92 million accounts. All under one roof, in theory. Those are SBI's own projected figures, published when the deal was announced. They cover both brands together.

That scale would put SBI ahead of its domestic rivals by assets held in custody. SBI did not break out how much of the 1.1 trillion yen sits with each unit. Neither company gave an updated account count for bitbank alone at completion. Independent data on Japanese exchange custody is thin, so the ranking leans on SBI's own disclosure.

Why Japan's crypto market is consolidating

Japan was an early mover on licensing crypto exchanges, after a run of high-profile failures and hacks forced the issue. Rules there are strict. Running a licensed venue costs money, and smaller operators have struggled to carry it. Bitcoin traded near $86,400 at 10:09 UTC on 2 October 2026, according to CoinGecko.

SBI framed the deal as a way to strengthen the "security, compliance, and product base for crypto and stablecoin-based financial services." The group has leaned into stablecoin work alongside its exchanges. Tomohiko Kondo, president of SBI VC Trade, joined bitbank's board, and Hirosue became an outside director at SBI VC Trade. That links the two boards.

For bitbank's customers, nothing changes yet. The exchange said its "service content will not change," and that people can keep using it on the same terms. What the deal does not settle is whether one large operator makes customer funds safer. Scale is not safety. Japan has licensed its exchanges for years, and some were hacked anyway. Where those assets sit, in hot or cold storage, matters more than who owns the brand.

What to watch

Two tests lie ahead. The first is whether SBI merges bitbank and SBI VC Trade into one platform or runs them side by side. The second is pricing. A bigger operator can cut fees, or let them drift up once rivals thin out. Japan's regulator will also watch how a single firm this large handles customer money. For now, the headline is simple. One of Japan's best known exchanges has a new owner, and that owner is already the biggest at home.