The transaction, approved by SBI's board on Thursday, involves a series of agreements with Bitbank CEO Noriyuki Hirosue, other individual shareholders, and Bitbank's two largest corporate shareholders—MIXI Inc. and Ceres Inc.—which together control nearly half of the exchange.
Under the structure, a wholly owned SBI subsidiary will first purchase shares directly from Hirosue and other individual holders, then subscribe to a new share issuance by Bitbank. Bitbank would use the proceeds of that capital increase to buy back and retire the stakes held by MIXI and Ceres.
The deal is expected to close around October, pending clearance from Japan's Fair Trade Commission. SBI said it would fold Bitbank's security and compliance infrastructure into its existing crypto operations, anchored by its subsidiary SBI VC Trade.
Combined, the two exchanges would hold an estimated 1.1 trillion yen, or roughly $6.8 billion, in assets under custody and serve about 2.92 million crypto accounts, which SBI said would make it the largest Japanese exchange by assets under custody and among the largest by number of user accounts.
The move is the latest sign of consolidation in Japan's digital asset industry, as SBI continues building out a broader strategy spanning crypto trading, stablecoins and on-chain finance. The company said the acquisition would strengthen its competitive position, but described the expected impact on its consolidated financial results for the fiscal year ending March 2027 as minor.
Bitbank reported a net loss for the fiscal year ended December 2025, after two years of profitability, according to financial disclosures included in SBI's announcement.
