Japan’s SBI Holdings Announces Investment in Coinhako

SBI Holdings, the Japan-based financial services provider, recently announced an investment in Coinhako, one of the largest crypto exchanges in Singapore. The recent investment was made through a fund set up by SBI and Switzerland’s Sygnum Bank.

In terms of retail crypto trading, Coinhako has the highest volume and customer base in the city-state. The platform provides a wide range of regulated crypto asset trading services to clients in the region. The latest investment in Coihako is part of SBI Group’s international expansion strategy.

SBI Group added that it will support Coinhako’s global business growth through its international network. According to the SBI, the fund will invest in promising startups working in the global crypto ecosystem.

“The Fund will be managed using the group's deep expertise across digital assets, financial services, and fintech complementary to the group and the Sygnum Banking Group, which are pioneers in the digital asset field, and the network of both companies across Asia and Europe. The Fund is a subsidiary of both companies, SBI Ven Capital and Sygnum. It will jointly conduct venture investments in Southeast Asia and Europe, focusing primarily on enterprise solutions related to financial market infrastructure and DLT,” SBI noted.

Crypto and Singapore

While the adoption of crypto assets jumped in Singapore recently, the financial regulator in the country introduced strict measures to counter the illegal use of digital assets in financial transactions. Singapore’s regulatory authority outlined several tough requirements for digital asset companies to ensure the safety of users. In a surprising announcement during the second week of December 2021, Binance announced its plan to shut down its Singapore operations.

“In recent years, with the rapid increase in crypto-asset transactions, financial authorities in each country are urgently developing related legal systems. The group will support investments that provide state-of-the-art and high-level, compliant services, and work to develop a sound crypto-asset market,” SBI added.