SBI Holdings secured majority control of Coinhako, one of Singapore’s oldest cryptocurrency exchanges, after obtaining the green light from the Monetary Authority of Singapore.
The Japanese financial conglomerate closed the transaction on 16 de julho, acting through its subsidiary SBI Ventures Asset Pte. Ltd. The deal combined a capital injection into Coinhako’s holding company, Holdbuild Pte. Ltd., with the purchase of shares held by previous investors.
As a result, Coinhako now officially joins the Japanese group as a consolidated subsidiary. The intention to acquire had already been disclosed in fevereiro, when SBI presented the move as part of a broader plan to grow in the Asian digital assets market. The regulatory clearance in Singapore took about five months.
Founded in 2014, Coinhako has established itself as one of the most established cryptocurrency platforms in the city-state. It operates through two regulated entities: Hako Technology Pte. Ltd., holder of a Major Payment Institution license granted by the Monetary Authority of Singapore, and Alpha Hako Ltd., registered as a crypto-asset service provider with the Financial Services Commission of the British Virgin Islands.
The Japanese company described the acquisition as a "significant step" in its global digital assets strategy, placing Singapore in the position of a "foundational base" for that project.
"By combining the customer base, experience, and regional network that the Coinhako Group has cultivated through operating a regulated cryptocurrency exchange in Singapore with the financial services, technology, and global network of the SBI Group, we will expand our global corridor for digital assets, beginning with Japan and Southeast Asia," SBI Holdings said in a statement.
Among traditional financial institutions, SBI has been one of the most active in the crypto sector, having already built exchange, custody, and asset management operations in Japan through SBI Digital Asset Holdings.
The agreement with Coinhako extends that work into Southeast Asia and adds a second regulated market to SBI’s reach. The next steps will depend on how the company will fit Coinhako’s operations into its infrastructure and whether it will use Singapore as a springboard for new licenses or regional acquisitions.