SBI Joint Venture On Cryptocurrency: A Move to Make Crypto A core Revenue Source
An SBI joint venture in the crypto space will undoubtedly be a piece of excellent news to crypto investors and traders. According to Yoshitaka Kitao, CEO and founder of SBI Group, his firm is looking to convert the planned crypto venture into a core profitability source. SBI Holdings is a major financial services establishment located in Japan. The firm is currently in talks over a joint venture to make the crypto venture a core revenue source. They are in discussions with foreign financial firms to create a cryptocurrency joint venture.
In his interview with Reuters, Kitao said that investors once lived in a time where they only invested in stocks or bonds. According to the founder of SBI Holdings, it is no longer a case of an “either-or situation” for investors. Kitao further revealed that investors mainly hedge funds and they have started investing in cryptocurrencies. “Not just institutional investors but also Elong Musk has,” Kitao said. Remember that Elon Musk’s electric vehicle company (Tesla Inc.) invested $1.5 billion in bitcoin earlier this month.
The SBI boss revealed that two deals are currently underway on creating the SBI joint venture business in cryptocurrency. However, he declined to comment further on possible partners. SBI Holdings is Japan’s biggest brokerage, and they have been offering crypto trading services since 2018. In a bid to expand their cryptocurrency portfolio, SBI bought local exchange, Tao Tao. The firm also acquired a 90% stake in London-based crypto market maker B2C2. SBI’s pretax profit from its cryptocurrency business was 6.7 billion Yen ($63.9 million).
When he was asked if the crypto business would become one of SBI’s top earners, Kitao said “definitely.” He also hinted that they were considering large-scale mergers and acquisitions. Kitao believes that for SBI to be number one globally, they need to buy a leading company. Alternatively, he said they could create an alliance with major global companies.
SBI Holding has also launched Short-Term Crypto Derivatives
In addition to the SBI joint venture on cryptocurrency, the firm has been active in the crypto space. The firm launched trading for a type of cryptocurrency derivative known as “contracts for difference” CFDs. It is already live on its foreign exchange trading platform called SBI FX Trade. According to the firm’s public statement, traders can pair crypto assets with both the United States dollar and the Yen. The crypto assets include bitcoin (BTC), ether (ETH), and XRP. Therefore, users have 6 FD choices to make.
SBI Holdings also revealed that they have a mobile app that can be used for trading CFD. People can engage in CFD trading by executing or receiving orders. As at press time, orders can be placed from around 15 Yen ($0.14) to a maximum of 500 bitcoin units for the BTC/JPY pair. SBI also revealed the availability of a mobile app for CFD trading. With the app, orders can be placed at any time of the day. Also, users can make use of leverage (borrowing from the platform) to make trades.
Conclusion
With India’s recent news placing a ban on cryptocurrency trading, the SBI joint venture is a welcome development for investors. Having institutions embrace bitcoin will help promote its mainstream adoption.
Okereke has a passion for researching blockchain and cryptocurrency. He enjoys creating long form educational content to inform others on the opportunities in this space.