SBI looking to set up joint crypto ventures with foreign firms

Japanese financial conglomerate SBI Holdings is reportedly planning to set up a joint cryptocurrency venture with foreign financial companies.

SBI CEO Yoshitaka Kitao said that the Japanese company is in talks with other financial firms to launch a crypto venture, Reuters reports Feb. 15. The executive said that SBI currently has two potential deals.

As part of the initiative, SBI is considering large-scale mergers and acquisitions. Kitao stated that such a deal would be necessary for SBI to maintain its position as a leading financial services company:

“To become number one in the world, our choice is buying a leading company or creating an alliance with major global companies […] Our M&A strategy will not be something like taking minority stakes in many companies.”

SBI’s plans on the upcoming global crypto venture were apparently pushed by major financial institutions like Tesla and Mastercard announcing their crypto-related plans last week. 

“Institutional investors, mainly hedge funds, have recently started investing in cryptocurrencies […] Not just institutional investors but also Elon Musk has,” Kitao said.

Kitao did not specify the potential partners. SBI did not immediately respond to Cointelegraph’s request for comment.

In December 2020, SBI announced a joint crypto-related venture with Switzerland’s principal stock exchange, SIX Swiss Exchange. As part of the initiative, SIX Digital Exchange and SBI’s crypto arm SBI Digital Asset Holdings were launching a new crypto platform in Singapore.