Overview
- SBI Holdings, which submitted a letter of intent Friday, aims to buy Bitbank shares to make the Tokyo exchange a consolidated subsidiary.
- Talks focus on a capital and business alliance, with a deal pending due diligence and internal approvals, and reporting says the addition would create Japan’s largest crypto platform group.
- The push follows SBI VC Trade absorbing Bitpoint Japan, plans to take a majority stake in Singapore’s Coinhako, and new payments plays that include SBI’s Visa rewards-to-crypto cards and Bitbank’s EPOS card that lets users pay bills from exchange balances.
- Japan’s cabinet backed a draft to treat crypto as financial products under the Financial Instruments and Exchange Act, a shift that could start in fiscal 2027 and raise capital and compliance demands for smaller exchanges.
- Mixi holds 26.2% of Bitbank from a 2021 funding, and the exchange’s earlier Tokyo Stock Exchange listing preparation could change if ownership shifts.