Over the past few weeks, Japan-based financial conglomerate SBI Holdings has made a series of major crypto investments. Earlier this week, it became the sole investor in Gauntlet's $125 million Series C and EDX Markets' $76 million Series C. Last month, it agreed to acquire Japanese crypto exchange Bitbank for nearly $289 million and, in February, a controlling stake in Singapore-based crypto exchange Coinhako. SBI also recently backed Digital Asset's $355 million funding round, Morpho's $175 million token round and Circle's $222 million token presale for its Arc blockchain, among several other investments. Last month, SBI launched JPYSC, Japan's first trust bank-backed yen stablecoin.
SBI is not new to crypto, having invested in the sector since 2016. But the pace of its recent activity stands out. Why is SBI investing so heavily in crypto now? What's behind these moves? And what do they say about traditional finance's interest in digital assets and institutional adoption?
Looking at the recent deals together, they point to a broader strategy centered on onchain finance.
"At SBI Group, we are driving the onchain transformation of the entire group and expanding our digital asset businesses as we endeavor to our next stage of growth," an SBI spokesperson told The Block. "In the onchain space, our goal is to provide a comprehensive range of functions — from exchanges to asset tokenization to market platforms. Our recent acquisitions, investments, and partnerships are all part of this group-wide strategy."
