PANews reported on May 1st that, according to CoinPost, Japan's SBI Holdings has officially launched capital business cooperation negotiations with the operating company of cryptocurrency exchange Bitbank, aiming to incorporate Bitbank into SBI's merged subsidiary. SBI Group just completed the absorption and merger of SBI VC Trade with Bitpoint Japan last month, and this move is seen as a preemptive move against the backdrop of strengthened regulation of crypto assets under the Financial Instruments and Exchange Act. Bitbank is known for its zero-hacking security record and had planned to go public in the second half of 2025. In 2021, it signed a capital business cooperation agreement with Mixi to raise approximately 7 billion yen. After acquiring Bitbank, SBI will form Japan's largest cryptocurrency platform group.