Woofun AI reports that SBI Group has agreed to acquire Japanese cryptocurrency exchange Bitbank for 46.7 billion yen, equivalent to approximately $289 million. A subsidiary of SBI Holdings will purchase shares from individual shareholders, including the founder, commencing in August, followed by a share buyback from existing holders Mixi and Ceres by late October.

The transaction positions SBI as the largest crypto business in Japan by scale, with combined custody assets exceeding 1 trillion yen, or roughly $6.2 billion. Based on SBI VC Trade, the merged entity will manage approximately 2.92 million accounts and hold custody assets totaling around 1.1 trillion yen.