Japan’s SBI Buys Crypto Exchange Rival Bitpoint

Japanese Securities Giant SBI Completes Takeover of Crypto Exchange Bitpoint　　Source: Pixs:sell/Adobe　　The Japanese securities giant SBI has completed a takeover of the rival crypto exchange Bitpoint. The move consolidates the firms increasingly tight grip on the domestic crypto market – and marks the second time it has taken over a domestic rival.　　SBI confirmed the move in a post on its website. The company snapped up a controlling (51%) stake in Bitpoint back in May last year. But, the firm wrote, it has now agreed a deal to buy the remaining 49% of Bitpoints share. The company did not disclose how much it had paid for the shares.　　SBI explained that it would move to make Bitpoint a “wholly owned subsidiary” firm. The company also outright owns the TaoTao crypto trading platform – an exchange that was formerly part-owned by Yahoo Japan. SBI bought TaoTao in 2020. SBI also operates SBI VC Trade, its own organic crypto exchange.　　SBI noted that it would use liquidity from its UK-based subsidiary B2C2 to improve existing Bitpoint services. The firm added that it may look to list gaming-related tokens on the platform in the future.　　Bitpoint was founded by the points system operator Remixpoint.　　Japanese Securities Giants Muscling out