SBI Crypto, the cryptocurrency specialist arm of Japanese financial conglomerate SBI, will close its Bitcoin mining pool after five years of operation.
The company announced on Wednesday that it will cease operating its mining pool on July 31st, and will also stop accepting mining shares at the same time. The rationale for the pool closure was not disclosed.
SBI Crypto said miners should continue to send hashrate to the pool until the cutoff so that the final payout can be correctly calculated before the operation ends. “We sincerely ask that you continue mining with us and support us until the final day of operation.”
The closure marks the end of mining pool operations for a well-known Japanese company and is the latest sign of SBI’s intention to expand its broader cryptocurrency strategy beyond mining.
SBI Crypto’s BTC mining pool ranks 12th in the world
SBI Crypto launched a Bitcoin mining pool in March 2021, entering a market that was dominated by operators such as Poolin, F2Pool, and Binance Pool at the time.
According to data from SimpleMining, SBI Crypto currently ranks as the 12th largest Bitcoin mining pool in the world, with a hashrate of approximately 21.46 exahash/second (EH/s) and approximately 2.24% of the total Bitcoin network share.
Source: SimpleMining
This leaves it far behind leaders such as Foundry USA, which controls about 24.49% of the network, and AntPool, which has about 19.05%. Mid- and lower-tier mining pools such as ViaBTC and MARA pools account for approximately 8.55% and 5.15% of the global Bitcoin mining hash rate, respectively.
Migration of miners to alternative pools
SBI Crypto has directed miners to several alternative Bitcoin mining pool operators as it prepares for a service outage, including Brainins, Luxor, and NeoPool.
Among them, Brainins and Luxor are established mid-tier mining infrastructure providers, each controlling around 2% to 3% of the global Bitcoin hash rate, according to SimpleMining data. NeoPool is not included in the top pools for hashrate.
sauce: brain
“Some operators may offer special programs or preferential terms to customers migrating from SBI Crypto,” the company said, adding that customers are encouraged to contact each operator directly for details.
The closure comes as SBI Holdings continues to expand its broader cryptocurrency strategy beyond mining.
The company recently agreed to acquire full control of cryptocurrency exchange BitBank in a deal valued at 46.7 billion yen ($289 million), with the aim of creating Japan’s largest cryptocurrency exchange.
SBI is also strengthening its focus on stablecoins, supporting JPYSC, a new Japanese yen stablecoin backed by trust banks, and supporting Ripple’s rollout of the Ripple USD (RLUSD) stablecoin in Japan.
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