bitbank

In 2013, Noriyuki HirosueNoriyuki HirosueNoriyuki Hirosue is an entrepreneur and the co-founder, President and CEO of Bitbank, Inc., the company that operates the Tokyo crypto asset exchange bitbank; before SBI Holdings acquired Bitbank in 2026, he was the company’s largest shareholder.Open the full entry, later the company’s CEO, drafted the “Bitcoin Bank Initiative,” a concept aimed at promoting cryptocurrency and blockchain adoption. At the time, Mt. Gox, based in Shibuya, Tokyo, accounted for about 70% of global Bitcoin trading volume.⁠[1][1]

The company was established on May 7, 2014, originally under the name Bitcheck, Inc., and that same month installed Bitcoin ATMs to promote the practical use of Bitcoin. In August of that year it moved its head office to Shibuya; in September it was renamed Bitbank, Inc.; and in October it launched BTCN (bitcoin news), a media platform specializing in Bitcoin and crypto assets. The company describes the “Internetization of Value and Money” as the vision it introduced in 2014.⁠[2][1][1][1][1][1][3]

In June 2015, the company launched the Bitcoin futures trading service “bitbank Trade,” which it describes as Japan’s first Bitcoin futures exchange; transaction volume reached 2.5 billion yen in the first two weeks and 8 billion yen in the first month.⁠[1][1][1]

In April 2016, the company opened Blockchain University, an educational business focused on crypto assets and blockchain; in May, “The Impact of Blockchain,” co-authored by Hirosue and chief strategy officer Yamazaki, was published by Nikkei BP, and the company launched “bitcheck wallet,” which allowed Bitcoin purchases by credit card.⁠[1][1][1]

In March 2017, the company launched the cryptocurrency exchange “bitbank.cc”; in July, CERES (Ceres Inc.) subscribed for an ¥850 million capital increase; and in September, the company completed its registration as a crypto asset exchange service provider with the Kanto Local Finance Bureau, under registration No. 00004.⁠[1][1][1]

After the theft of about 58 billion yen worth of NEM from Coincheck in 2018, a number of domestic crypto asset exchange operators in Japan received business improvement orders. On June 22, 2018, the Kanto Local Finance Bureau issued a business improvement order to bitbank under the Payment Services Act, based on FSA on-site and off-site inspections that found the company had failed to establish an effective management structure to ensure appropriate and reliable business operations. The same day, exchange operators including bitFlyer, QUOINE, BTCBOX and BITPoint Japan received similar orders.⁠[1][4][4][4][4][4][4]

The company says it accounted for 48% of Japan’s domestic crypto asset spot trading volume in February 2019. In June of that year, Hirosue became a director of the Japan Virtual and Crypto assets Exchange Association (JVCEA) and chairman of the Japan Cryptoasset Business Association (JCBA).⁠[1][1]

In April 2021, customer assets under custody reached a record 289.8 billion yen, and the company introduced PostOnly orders; in May, monthly trading volume reached a record 1.5311 trillion yen. In September of that year, the company raised about 750 million yen from mixi (now MIXI) and CERES and entered into a capital and business alliance with mixi.⁠[1][1][1][1]

In February 2022, the company released NLoop, open-source software supporting stable Lightning Network operations; in March it obtained ISMS international information security management certification. In May, it signed a basic agreement with Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings (now Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group) to jointly study establishing a trust company specializing in digital assets, and set up the Japan Digital Asset Trust Preparatory Company (JADAT); in the same month it also established the subsidiary Bitbank Entertainment.⁠[1][1][1][1][1]

In March 2023, the company became a company with an audit and supervisory committee to strengthen corporate governance, and said it then handled the largest number of crypto assets among domestic exchanges; in May it established the subsidiary Bitbank Ventures LLC; in June, Hirosue became vice chairman of JVCEA and was reappointed chairman of JCBA; in July it launched its owned media “Bitbank Plus”; and in December it launched FiKNOTS, a scholarship matching service for GameFi.⁠[1][1][1][1][1][1]

In July 2024, the company announced its “Compliance-First Declaration,” aimed at contributing to sound market development and user protection; in October it launched its first TV commercial series, “Everybody bitbank”; and in November it launched a margin trading service using crypto assets as collateral and announced that Bitbank Ventures would invest in projects using crypto assets and blockchain technology.⁠[1][1][1][1]

In November 2025, the company launched “bitbank Prime,” a service for corporate clients. For the fiscal year ended December 31, 2025, the company (non-consolidated) reported net sales of 5,815 million yen, an operating loss of 970 million yen and a net loss of 696 million yen, compared with net sales of 7,947 million yen and net income of 2,102 million yen in the previous fiscal year.⁠[1][2]

In January 2026, the company moved its head office to Tokyo Midtown Yaesu; in March it entered into a 500 million yen commitment line agreement with Kiraboshi Bank; and in April it announced the “EPOS CRYPTO Card for bitbank,” a credit card that allows spending through withdrawals from exchange assets.⁠[1][1][1]

On May 1, 2026, SBI Holdings announced that it had begun considering a capital and business alliance with Bitbank, noting that the bitbank exchange offered 44 crypto assets and had about 960,000 accounts as of the end of December 2025.⁠[5][5][5]

On June 25, 2026, Bitbank concluded a basic agreement with SBI Holdings, its wholly owned subsidiary SBICAH GK, and shareholders Hirosue, MIXI and CERES, while some shareholders signed share transfer agreements with SBICAH. At signing, Hirosue held 30.86%, MIXI 26.22%, CERES 22.39% and other shareholders a combined 20.53%. SBI Holdings’ total acquisition cost for all the shares was ¥46.7 billion.⁠[2][2][2][2][2][2]

Bitbank said the bitbank exchange would continue to provide its services as before, and that since its founding it had had no hacking incidents resulting in the outflow of customer assets. As of the end of June 2026, bitbank had 1,004,000 accounts and deposits of about ¥380 billion.⁠[6][2][7]

In Kaiko’s Q3 2026 crypto asset exchange ranking (as of September 4, 2026), bitbank ranked first in Japan and 23rd globally.⁠[8][8]

On September 18, 2026, the company issued a statement explaining that the “BitBank” sanctioned by the U.S. Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) is an Iranian digital asset exchange entirely unrelated to Bitbank, Inc., that Bitbank, Inc. is not subject to the sanctions, and asking media not to use its logo.⁠[9][9][9]

On October 1, 2026, Bitbank bought back all shares held by MIXI and CERES, completing SBI Holdings’ acquisition, and Bitbank became its wholly owned subsidiary. The company said the completion did not affect bitbank’s services and that customers could continue to use them as before.⁠[10][11][11]

With the completion, the company established a new management structure: Tomohiko Kondo joined as a director, and Hirosue remained President and CEO. As of October 2026, Bitbank’s shareholder is the SBI Group (100%), and its capital is 8,050 million yen (including capital reserves).⁠[1][12][12][12][12]

With the vision of “Realizing an Open and Fair Society,” Bitbank operates mainly the crypto asset exchange bitbank.cc and also conducts venture investment through Bitbank Ventures. In addition to its crypto asset exchange registration (Kanto Local Finance Bureau No. 00004), the company holds a money lending business registration from the Governor of Tokyo and is a member of organizations including the Japan Virtual and Crypto assets Exchange Association (JVCEA) and the Japan Cryptoasset Business Association (JCBA).⁠[3][3][12][12]

As of October 2026, the company’s head office is on the 10th floor of Yaesu Central Tower, Tokyo Midtown Yaesu, in Yaesu, Chuo-ku, Tokyo; its board includes Representative Director and CEO Hirosue, COO Naoji Noda and CFO Masaaki Kato, and its executive officers include a CTO, a CRO and a CCO.⁠[12][12][12][12][12]

Bitbank, Inc.: Official website: https://corporate.bitbank.cc/en/ (opens in a new window).⁠[3]

bitbank exchange: Official website: https://bitbank.cc/ (opens in a new window).⁠[3]

X: Public account: https://x.com/bitbank_inc (opens in a new window)⁠[3]