SBI buys Bitbank for $289M to top Japan's crypto market
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- SBI agreed to acquire Bitbank in a $289 million deal that would create Japan's largest crypto exchange
- Bitbank trading volume has hovered below $50 million for most of the last four months, per CoinGecko data cited in the article
- SBI and Startale Group unveiled Strium in February, a layer-1 blockchain targeting 24/7 trading and settlement of tokenized equities and real-world assets
- SBI and Startale launched JPYSC, a yen-pegged stablecoin issued by SBI Shinsei Trust Bank and distributed via SBI VC Trade, initially limited to internal SBI transfers
- Ripple and SBI Group launched the dollar-backed RLUSD stablecoin in Japan through SBI VC Trade, approved under Japan's framework for foreign-issued stablecoins and available to institutional and retail customers
Why it matters: The deal gives SBI control of Japan's largest crypto exchange while the same firm simultaneously rolls out its own layer-1 settlement blockchain and two stablecoins — concentrating exchange volume, on-chain rails, and stablecoin issuance under one roof in Japan's regulated market. With Bitbank's sub-$50M daily volume, SBI is paying primarily for market position and licensing, not current throughput.
