SBI Crypto, the cryptocurrency-focused subsidiary of Japanese financial group SBI Holdings, announced that it will end its Bitcoin mining pool operations, which it has been operating for five years, on July 31. The company will also stop accepting mining shares on the same date. The reason for the closing decision was not shared.
Closing schedule has been clarified
SBI Crypto requested miners using the pool to continue directing their processing power to the pool until the blackout date so that final payment calculations can be made correctly. The company stated that it expects the support to continue until the last day of operations.
The company requested that miners continue to direct their processing power to the pool until the end of operations so that the final payment calculations can be completed properly.
This step means the closure of one of the prominent institutional-scale Bitcoin mining pools in Japan. It also indicates that SBI is placing more emphasis on areas other than mining in its cryptocurrency strategy.
Its place in the market and its current scale
SBI Crypto launched its Bitcoin mining pool in March 2021. At that time, major players such as Poolin, F2Pool and Binance Pool were influential in the market.
According to SimpleMining data, SBI Crypto is currently the 12th largest Bitcoin mining pool globally. The pool’s processing power is approximately 21.46 exahash/second, which corresponds to approximately 2.24% of the total processing power of the Bitcoin network.
Mini dictionary: Exahash/second is a measure of the total computing power used in mining. 1 EH/s means 1 quintillion hash attempts per second and is used to monitor the level of competition on the Bitcoin network.
According to the same data set, Foundry USA controls approximately 24.49% of the network, while AntPool controls 19.05%. ViaBTC, which is among the medium and lower-sized pools, seems to have a share of approximately 8.55% and MARA Pool has a share of 5.15%. This chart reveals that although SBI Crypto is a visible player in the global market, it lags significantly behind the leading pools.
Transition process has begun for miners
SBI Crypto has directed its users to alternative Bitcoin mining pools as it prepares for the service closure. Among the operators pointed out by the company were Braiins, Luxor and NeoPool.
According to SimpleMining data, Braiins and Luxor are among the established infrastructure providers that hold approximately 2% to 3% of global Bitcoin processing power. NeoPool, on the other hand, is not among the top pools in terms of processing power.
SBI Crypto stated that some operators may offer special programs or advantageous conditions for switching customers and recommended that users contact the relevant operators directly for details.
SBI’s focus shifts beyond mining
The closure decision coincides with SBI Holdings’ broader cryptocurrency plans. The company recently agreed to acquire the entire cryptocurrency exchange Bitbank for 46.7 billion Japanese yen. The dollar equivalent of the transaction is approximately 289 million.
As one of Japan’s largest financial groups, SBI Holdings operates in the fields of banking, securities and digital assets. The group has also increased its work on the stablecoin side; While supporting the Japanese yen-backed JPYSC initiative, Ripple also contributes to the spread of USD in Japan.
