SBI Holdings completes acquisition of Singapore crypto firm CoinHako

Japan’s SBI Holdings announced that it has completed its purchase of a majority stake in Coinhako on Thursday, after clearing regulatory review. The acquisition hands the Japanese financial institution a licensed base to platform digital asset services across Southeast Asia.

The transaction was done via SBI Ventures Asset Pte. Ltd., which put fresh capital into Coinhako and bought out the existing shareholders. The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) signed off on the deal. SBI has kept the financial terms private, and has not published how much was paid or exact details on how much of the company it owns and Coinhako’s valuation.

Coinhako has traded in Singapore since 2014 and runs under Hako Technology Pte. Ltd., which carries a licence from MAS.

SBI makes inroad into Singapore

The appeal for SBI is an already established, licensed distribution point in a country with settled crypto rules. Chairman and President Yoshitaka Kitao explained that the acquisition was an additional link in a cross-border chain the group is trying to create. “The SBI Group seeks to establish a global corridor for digital assets by connecting exchanges worldwide,” Kitao stated.

SBI currently accounts for more than 14 million users and holds about $308 billion in assets under custody. Coinhako would be getting access to a group with roots spanning banking, securities and digital assets.

Coinhako co-founder and chief executive Yusho Liu saw the sale as the company’s next step of development. “Joining the SBI Group is a natural step for Coinhako to move to the next stage of growth,” Liu said.

Coinhako acquisition part of wider SBI expansion

The Coinhako purchase came in a busy week for the Japanese firm. SBI paired with Ondo Finance on July 15 to tokenize Japanese equities and other assets, using its yen stablecoin JPYSC for transactions.

It also recently struck a deal with the Solana Foundation, which will take an equity stake in SBI R3 Japan, which will be renamed SBI Solana Global. The newly created partnership will focus on issuing stablecoins and putting RWAs such as corporate bonds and real estate on-chain.

SBI agreed in June to buy Tokyo exchange Bitbank for about $289 million, a purchase set to be completed in October if regulators approve the move. The company also bought Bitpoint in 2022, led a $76 million Series C round for institutional venue EDX Markets, and invested funds into a $25 million Series C for risk manager Gauntlet.

Sota Watanabe, chief executive of Startale Group, posted on X that “SBI will become the largest crypto native company in APAC.” He said his aim at SBI Startale is to build an on-chain economy in the group over the coming years.

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