The Japanese securities giant SBI has posted record crypto-related profits as it aims to win the race to become the first crypto exchange operator in the country to list USD Coin (USDC).
Per an official SBI Group announcement and a report from the Japanese-language media outlet CoinPost, the firm has also announced plans to expand its range of crypto offerings.
Crypto Bull Market Driving SBI Growth?
In its consolidated financial results for the third quarter of the current financial year, SBI announced revenues of approximately 62.8 billion yen on its crypto business units, a year-on-year increase of 103.5%.
The firm also posted pre-tax profits of around 18.1 billion yen ($119.6 million), a 787% year-on-year rise from Q3 of FY2023.
The firm operates the SBI VC Trade and BITPoint crypto exchanges, as well as the crypto mining firm SBI Crypto.
It also operates the UK liquidity provider and market maker B2C2 and the Tokyo-based blockchain firm HashHub.
The firm said the “revitalized” crypto markets had helped buoy growth on its crypto exchange platforms.
And SBI said that it had seen a quarter-to-quarter rise of 15.3% in the number of accounts on SBI VC Trade and BITpoint.
It also forecasted that the combined revenue of SBI VC Trade and BITPoint Japan would exceed 600 billion yen ($3.96 million) in the current quarter.
DMM Bitcoin Customers Set for March Migration
The company is also set to take over another former domestic rival, DMM Bitcoin, with the latter’s customers slated to migrate to SBI VC Trade by March 8.
The firm said that this would help it boost the number of crypto wallets on its SBI VC Trade platform to “about 1.3 million.” BITPoint also hosts some 400,000 wallets.
The firm says it is continuing to work with regulators, as well as Circle, the United States-based USDC operator.
Japanese crypto exchanges have faced a long wait for regulators to let them start listing USD-pegged stablecoins.
Following a November 2023 agreement with Circle, SBI has been pushing for permission to start offering USDC pairings in Japan.
The SBI Holdings Chairman and CEO Yoshitaka Kitao said companies were now laying the ground for “the full-scale introduction of stablecoins in Japan.”
Recent revisions to the Payment Services Act are set to provide Japanese crypto exchanges with the chance to enter the stablecoins market, Kitao noted.
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