SBI Acquires Coinhako to Build Asia Digital Asset Network

SBI Holdings Chairman and President Yoshitaka Kitao framed the deal in terms that extend well beyond exchange ownership. Kitao stated that the growing tokenization of financial assets is increasing demand for regulated digital asset infrastructure capable of supporting cross-border financial services, and that integrating Coinhako into SBI's existing ecosystem would help expand what he described as a "global corridor" for digital assets, including tokenized securities and stablecoins. The acquisition gives SBI a MAS-regulated Southeast Asian node to complement its domestic Japanese operations and its recently expanded presence in the United States.

The Coinhako deal is the third exchange-related transaction SBI has closed or committed to in roughly a month. In late June, the group agreed to acquire Japanese exchange bitbank for approximately 46.7 billion yen. Weeks earlier, SBI led a 76 million dollar Series C funding round for EDX Markets, a US digital-asset exchange built for institutional traders. Taken together, the three moves give SBI regulated trading infrastructure across Japan, the United States, and Southeast Asia, a configuration the group has described as the foundation for a pan-Asian and cross-border digital asset network. The Block's analysis of SBI's investment rationale outlined the group's broader ambition to connect fragmented regional markets through a single regulated infrastructure layer.

The strategic logic behind the Coinhako acquisition sits within a wider Asian regulatory opening. Singapore's MAS has maintained a licensing regime for digital payment token service providers, and Coinhako's MPI licence provides SBI with an immediately operational, compliant Southeast Asian entity rather than requiring a fresh application process. The acquisition therefore accelerates SBI's regional buildout by months compared with a greenfield approach. Details on how Coinhako's infrastructure will be technically integrated with SBI's existing digital asset subsidiaries — including SBI Digital Asset Holdings and SBI Digital Markets — have not been made public, according to Fintech News Singapore's reporting on the transaction.

SBI's interest in tokenized real-world assets adds another dimension to the Coinhako rationale. SBI Digital Markets has previously participated in tokenized bond issuances and cross-border settlement trials in Asia, and Kitao's public remarks have consistently tied the group's exchange acquisitions to the anticipated growth of tokenized securities infrastructure. Coinhako's MAS-regulated status and its existing retail and institutional user base make it a potential distribution and settlement point for tokenized products that SBI and its partners may bring to market in Southeast Asia. Ledger Insights noted that SBI's broader digital asset strategy has increasingly centred on building the plumbing for tokenized finance rather than purely on spot crypto trading volumes.

The announcement does not disclose the purchase price or the precise equity percentage acquired beyond "majority stake." It does not identify which specific tokenized asset classes Coinhako will support following integration, nor does it establish a timeline for any product launches involving tokenized securities or stablecoins on the platform. No details have been provided on how existing Coinhako users or counterparties will be affected operationally during the integration period, and SBI has not named the existing shareholders from whom shares were purchased.

The immediate concrete effect of the transaction is that SBI Holdings now controls a MAS-licensed digital payment token service provider in Singapore with more than 480,000 user accounts and a 200-plus asset trading roster. What the deal does not establish is a live tokenized securities product, a disclosed cross-border settlement mechanism connecting Coinhako to SBI's Japanese or US entities, or a named institutional client mandate for RWA distribution through the newly acquired platform.