SBI Takes Majority Control Of Coinhako After MAS Approval
e27 reported that SBI Holdings acquired a majority stake in Singapore crypto exchange Coinhako after MAS approval, using a capital injection and share purchase to turn the platform into a consolidated subsidiary. Financial terms and product timelines were not disclosed.
SBI Holdings has taken majority control of Singapore crypto exchange Coinhako after Monetary Authority of Singapore approval, turning the platform into a regulated Southeast Asian bridge for the Japanese group's digital-asset business. e27 placed the July 16 transaction through Coinhako parent Holdbuild, which became a consolidated SBI subsidiary through a capital injection and a share purchase from existing shareholders.
The ownership change places an MAS-regulated operating base under the Japanese group's control.
The exchange keeps its consumer-facing brand under a parent with banking, securities and digital-asset operations.
MAS Approval Moves Coinhako Under SBI Control
Hako Technology carries the MAS Major Payment Institution licence attached to Coinhako's Singapore operations.
Alpha Hako provides the separate British Virgin Islands registration for crypto-asset services.
Founded in 2014 by Yusho Liu and Gerry Eng, Coinhako is one of Singapore's earlier retail digital-asset platforms.
The exchange stayed in the market through the post-FTX tightening period, when regulators and banks increased scrutiny of crypto venues, client assets and consumer access.
SBI Ventures Asset completed the acquisition through Holdbuild.
The licensed operating units are now the transaction's route for Singapore digital-asset access.
SBI Uses Singapore As A Digital-Asset Corridor
SBI linked Singapore to a planned Asia-Pacific digital-asset economic zone.
Its work with Startale includes JPYSC, a yen-denominated trust-type stablecoin that the group presented as a Japanese first.
SBI Chairman, President and CEO Yoshitaka Kitao framed the deal as part of a plan to create a "global corridor for digital assets" by connecting exchanges across markets.
Singapore is the licensed base for that plan after MAS approved the control change.
The acquisition adds the Singapore platform to SBI's market-entry mechanism.
The exchange supplies a local licence-linked platform for a Japanese parent already active in blockchain, crypto and digital securities.
Coinhako Keeps Consumer Brand As Institutional Rails Grow
SBI's plan links exchanges, stablecoins and tokenisation, but the deal documents do not identify how much of the business will move beyond retail crypto trading.
Coinhako CEO Yusho Liu described Singapore as a regional standard for responsible digital-asset innovation.
The company tied SBI backing to service expansion, without naming new products, institutional customers or launch dates.
MAS approval applies to the Singapore transaction rather than a region-wide licence.
The buyer now holds a regulated base for compliance signalling, banking relationships and cross-border product design in Singapore.
MAS has tightened retail access, custody and customer-asset segregation.
Project Guardian keeps institutional tokenisation and cross-border settlement inside the policy conversation, while the exchange remains a consumer platform whose institutional timetable is not yet public.
Financial Terms And Product Timetable Remain Undisclosed
Financial terms remain outside the public record.
The deal record does not identify the valuation, the size of the capital injection, the selling shareholders, new institutional products or the timetable for connecting the exchange with SBI's wider digital-asset network.
The Singapore exchange is now controlled by a large Japanese financial group.
The public record has not named the first customer segment, product bundle or cross-market exchange link.
