SBI Holdings has began formal talks with Bitbank over a capital and enterprise alliance. The deliberate transaction would make Bitbank a consolidated subsidiary of SBI.
The corporate stated it plans to accumulate shares after due diligence and inside approval. Particulars on timing, construction, and acquisition technique will likely be mentioned later.
The transfer comes quickly after SBI Group absorbed Bitpoint Japan by means of a merger with SBI VC Commerce in April 2026. The most recent talks present SBI is transferring shortly to broaden its crypto change enterprise.
Japan can be reviewing how crypto property match beneath the Monetary Devices and Alternate Act. That course of could deliver tighter guidelines for exchanges and crypto funding merchandise.
Bitbank’s IPO path comes into focus
Bitbank had beforehand ready for a attainable Tokyo Inventory Alternate itemizing by mid-2025. The corporate had additionally raised about 7 billion yen by means of a capital and enterprise alliance with Mixi in 2021.
Mixi turned a serious shareholder with a 26.2% stake. SBI’s proposal could now draw consideration to Bitbank’s itemizing plans and future possession construction.
Bitbank expands crypto fee companies
Bitbank has additionally moved additional into crypto-linked funds. The change launched the “EPOS Crypto Card for Bitbank” with EPOS Card, the fintech arm of Marui Group.
The cardboard permits customers to settle month-to-month bank card payments utilizing bitcoin held on Bitbank. It additionally provides 0.5% cashback in bitcoin, ether, or Aster.
Bitbank stated the cardboard is the primary in Japan to permit bank card payments to be settled straight from crypto change balances. The service could later add extra crypto fee choices.
The attainable SBI deal would mix Bitbank’s change model and funds push with SBI’s wider monetary community. Bitbank has additionally reported zero hacking incidents since launch, which can assist its enchantment to a bigger monetary group.
