SBI Group said it plans to acquire Japanese crypto exchange Bitbank for 46.7 billion yen, or about $300 million. The company said the deal would strengthen its control over Bitbank and expand its position in Japan’s crypto market, where SBI already has a presence through its broader financial business.
Once completed, the combined group is expected to serve about 2.92 million customer accounts and manage roughly 1.1 trillion yen in assets. That would take SBI’s managed assets past the 1 trillion yen mark, a level that could place it among Japan’s largest players by assets under management. The scale is the headline. The strategic direction is hard to miss.
Bitbank deal adds scale to SBI’s digital asset business
SBI is already active in banking, brokerage, and asset management. Adding Bitbank would increase its weight in the domestic digital asset market by bringing in a larger customer base and more assets under supervision. The disclosed figures show that size is central to the transaction, not just ownership.
Public details indicate that an SBI subsidiary will start purchasing shares from Bitbank’s founder and other minority shareholders, with the process expected to begin as early as August. No final closing date was provided in the source material, leaving the market focused on how quickly the share purchases move and when the transaction is fully completed.
Ripple ties draw attention as RLUSD enters the picture
The acquisition is also attracting attention because of SBI’s long-standing relationship with Ripple. The source said that shortly before the Bitbank announcement, SBI expanded that relationship and officially enabled the use of RLUSD in Japan.
Taken together, the two moves point to a broader push inside Japan’s crypto market. If Bitbank is folded into SBI’s network while Ripple cooperation expands, access to RLUSD through SBI channels could become easier for users in Japan. The report did not provide operational details beyond that, but it directly linked the Bitbank transaction with wider RLUSD visibility.
Traditional finance in Japan keeps building crypto exposure
The announcement comes at a time of rising interest in crypto-based products in Japan. In the source material, this was framed as part of a larger pattern: traditional financial groups are trying to increase their influence in digital assets. SBI fits that pattern clearly, using acquisition to add both customers and asset scale.
The key disclosed figures are straightforward: 46.7 billion yen purchase price, about $300 million; around 2.92 million customer accounts after the deal; and about 1.1 trillion yen in managed assets. Attention now shifts to the expected August start for share purchases and the pace of integration after that.