Japanese Financial Giant SBI to Shut Down Bitcoin Mining Pool

SBI Crypto, a wholly owned subsidiary of Japanese financial giant SBI Holdings, is winding down its Bitcoin mining pool services, according to an announcement from the firm. 

Though a reason was not given, the firm indicated it would cease operations on July 31. 

“Until then, we expect the pool to continue operating under normal conditions, and customers may continue mining and receiving payouts as usual,” the firm wrote. “Our goal is to continue providing stable and reliable mining pool operations through the planned closure date.”

The firm has been operating a cryptocurrency mining service since at least 2017, according to its website, and currently maintains the 11th biggest Bitcoin mining pool by hash rate, according to data from Hashrate Index. The pool also lets users mine Bitcoin Cash and Litecoin.

Bitcoin mining pools allow smaller players to lump together their resources and computational power, or hash rate, to compete to win Bitcoin blocks and therefore BTC rewards. When the pool finds a block, the rewards are then distributed proportionally to the resources provided by individuals in the group. 

Now, though, SBI’s mining pool users will need to look elsewhere, something the firm says it’s aimed to assist customers by conducting “business and technical discussions” with other mining pool operators, like Braiins and Luxor. 

“Some operators may offer special programs or preferential conditions for clients transitioning from SBI Crypto,” it wrote.

SBI Crypto’s departure from mining continues a trend that has seen large Bitcoin miners leave the space in search of better opportunities in artificial intelligence. Last year, publicly traded miner Bitfarms announced it would wind down its operations entirely as it transitioned to AI and rebranded to Keel Infrastructure.

Other major miners have announced multi-billion-dollar AI compute deals with major tech firms, even as they continue to maintain Bitcoin operations. The Bitcoin mining business has become increasingly challenging for companies amid Bitcoin’s falling price, with the leading cryptocurrency now down more than 50% from its all-time high price of $126,080 set last October.

Though SBI is dumping its mining business, its parent company is still pushing forward in crypto. Earlier this week, SBI Holdings announced it agreed to acquire Japanese crypto exchange Bitbank for $289 million.