SBI Holdings announced the acquisition of Bitbank, one of Japan's largest spot BTC exchanges with an FSA license, for about $289M. The deal expands SBI's crypto footprint alongside SBI Shinsei Bank and SBI Digital Asset Holdings, as Japan's major banks push a joint stablecoin plan targeting March 2027.
Matters because: It signals Japan's regulated financial sector is moving from exploration to consolidation around crypto and stablecoins.