In an effort to reinforce its foothold in the cryptocurrency industry, Japanese financial behemoth SBI Holdings, through its subsidiary SBI Financial Services, has acquired UK-based crypto trading company B2C2 for an undisclosed sum.
The development comes six months after SBI signed a strategic partnership with the firm. According to reports at the time, SBI purchased a $30 million minority stake at the firm as a first leap into future cooperation.
B2C2 was established in 2015 as a crypto liquidity provider with headquarters in the United Kingdom. The company provides its services to institutional investors with clients ranging from exchanges to funds managers and brokerages.
The move to acquire B2C2 makes SBI the world’s first financial conglomerate to own a crypto dealing desk. The partners hope the acquisition will become an entry point for financial insitions hoping to gain entrance to crypto assets.
Speaking on the deal, Yoshitaka Kitao, President and CEO, SBI Holdings, commented, “B2C2 has an exceptional reputation for its world-class products and services, superb technology and valuable client base. Their vision, expertise, and offering complement SBI’s, and we look forward to working in partnership as we expand our footprint across the global markets.”
B2C2’s founder, Max Boonen, believes that the timing couldn’t be better for SBI as “it is dawning on everyone in finance that crypto is here to stay.”
“The integration is well underway, with both firms’ client bases already benefiting from our combined capabilities. We share a bold vision of the influence that crypto will exert on financial markets over the coming decade. We are proud to join SBI at the forefront of this evolution,” Boonen added.
Meanwhile, SBI is an active player in the crypto industry. In February, the company partnered with Northern Data AG and Whinstone US Inc in a concerted effort to build the biggest Bitcoin mining facility in the United States.
In October, the financial giant acquired Japanese crypto exchange TaoTao, making it the second licensed exchange owned by the conglomerate.
Last month, SBI launched a crypto lending service that allows customers to earn interest on their BTC loans with plans to add ETH and XRP.