SBI Holdings Boosts Crypto Expansion with Gauntlet, EDX Deals

SBI Holdings has accelerated its push into digital assets through a series of large investments over the past few weeks. The company's goal is to drive an on-chain transition across its operations and provide comprehensive capabilities across the digital-asset landscape, from exchanges and asset tokenization to market platforms.

The recent acquisitions, investments, and partnerships are part of this strategy. SBI Holdings acquired Japanese crypto exchange bitbank for about $289 million last month and secured a controlling stake in Singapore-based exchange Coinhako in February. It also joined Digital Asset's $355 million funding round and DeFi lending protocol Morpho's $175 million token round.

The company aims to establish itself as a global leader in the rapidly evolving digital-asset industry by building on-chain financial infrastructure that encompasses exchanges, payments, tokenization, and stablecoins. SBI Holdings' network in Japan and across Asia will help platforms like Gauntlet expand to financial institutions and fintech firms.

According to Joseph Goh, Asia-Pacific head at crypto investment bank Areta, SBI is building a cross-border digital-asset franchise spanning issuance, settlement, market infrastructure, asset management, and retail distribution. He believes that combining Gauntlet's institutional on-chain capabilities with the distribution networks of bitbank and Coinhako could create Asia's first large-scale on-chain asset-management business.