Summary
SBI Holdings has closed its acquisition of Coinhako, Singapore's licensed crypto exchange, after receiving Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) approval. The deal makes Coinhako a consolidated subsidiary of the Japanese financial group, executed via a capital injection through SBI Ventures Asset Pte. Ltd. and a purchase of shares from existing investors. Coinhako holds a MAS Major Payment Institution license for Digital Payment Token services and Cross-border Remittance.
Key Facts
- Deal closed: July 16, 2026, with MAS approval
- Coinhako: 480,000+ users, MAS MPI license for DPT and cross-border remittance
- SBI also agreed to acquire Bitbank (Japan's largest domestic exchange) for ~$289M (targeting October 2026 close)
- SBI led $76M Series C for EDX Markets (US institutional exchange)
- SBI manages $308B+ in assets across 14M+ customer accounts
- SBI developing JPYSC (yen-backed stablecoin) with Startale
- SBI partnered with Ondo Finance for tokenized financial products
- SBI Japan High Dividend Equity Strategy Token launched on Solana via DigiFT (July 14)
- Coinhako co-founders Yusho Liu and Gerry Eng remain in place
Why It Matters
SBI is building a linked network of regulated crypto exchanges across three key jurisdictions: Singapore (Coinhako), Japan (Bitbank), and the US (EDX Markets). The strategic logic is that stablecoins and tokenized assets can flow across this network rather than sitting in isolated liquidity pools. The Coinhako acquisition gives SBI a MAS-licensed foothold in Southeast Asia, while JPYSC provides a yen-denominated settlement asset for the network. This is the most concrete example yet of a traditional financial conglomerate building integrated crypto infrastructure across multiple regulated markets.