SBI Holdings, Japan's largest online brokerage, agreed to acquire Bitbank, a domestic crypto exchange, for $288.6 million. The transaction is expected to close around October 2026, pending regulatory approval.
Bitbank operates under Japan's regulatory framework for crypto exchanges, which requires licensing under the Payments Services Act. SBI already owns a licensed exchange, Taotao, acquired earlier. The Bitbank acquisition consolidates SBI's position in Japan's regulated crypto trading market as the company builds out its digital asset operations.
Neither SBI nor Bitbank disclosed the strategic rationale for the deal beyond standard statements about growth and integration. SBI's track record includes the 2018 acquisition of Coincheck, which had suffered a major hack months before SBI's purchase. That deal gave SBI entry into the exchange business during a critical period of regulatory tightening in Japan.