u.today
Amid the growing adoption of crypto-based products in Japan, SBI Group, a major Japanese financial service provider closely associated with Ripple, has announced a major expansion into the crypto space.
On Thursday, June 25, SBI Group officially announced its plans to acquire a major crypto exchange, Bitbank, in a deal worth about 46.7 billion yen (about $300 million).
SBI Group to hit 1 Trillion Yen Milestone
While SBI Group remains one of Japan's largest financial service firms, the acquisition of Bitbank will further expand its business and position its total AUM (assets under management) to reach over 1 trillion yen.
Although this is not the first time SBI Group has been actively involved with the crypto space, considering its close relationship with Ripple, the successful acquisition of Bitbank will further strengthen its foothold in Japan's cryptocurrency market.
After SBI becomes the official owner of Bitbank, the combined business would need to serve about 2.92 million customer accounts and control about 1.1 trillion yen in assets. As such, the move positions SBI as one of the largest companies by assets under management in Japan.
SBI Group extends collaboration with Ripple
The acquisition deal came shortly after the SBI Group extended its partnership with Ripple by officially allowing the use of the $RLUSD stablecoin in Japan.
As such, the acquisition deal puts Ripple in the spotlight, as it may provide an extensive opportunity for crypto users in Japan to easily access $RLUSD directly through SBI.
Nonetheless, the acquisition deal will allow a subsidiary of SBI to begin buying shares from Bitbank's founder and other individual shareholders as early as August.