SBI Crypto, the wholly owned mining arm of Japanese financial powerhouse SBI Holdings, has announced it will shut down its Bitcoin mining pool on July 31. The company did not offer a reason for the closure but said the pool will operate “under normal conditions” until the planned wind-down and that miners can continue to mine and receive payouts through the closure date. “Our goal is to continue providing stable and reliable mining pool operations through the planned closure date,” the firm added.
Operating since at least 2017, SBI Crypto currently runs the 11th-largest Bitcoin mining pool by hash rate, according to Hashrate Index. The pool also supports mining for Bitcoin Cash and Litecoin. For smaller miners, pools like SBI’s combine individual hash power to increase the chances of winning block rewards, which are distributed among participants proportional to contributed resources.
SBI said it will help affected customers transition by holding “business and technical discussions” with other pool operators, naming Braiins and Luxor as potential partners. The company suggested some operators may offer special programs or preferential terms for miners migrating from SBI Crypto.
The exit follows a broader industry pattern of large mining firms pivoting away from pure Bitcoin mining toward more lucrative opportunities in artificial intelligence. Last year, Bitfarms halted mining operations and rebranded as Keel Infrastructure as part of an AI pivot. Other public miners have struck multibillion-dollar AI compute deals while still maintaining some Bitcoin operations.
Economic pressure on mining businesses has intensified as Bitcoin has tumbled from last October’s peak of $126,080 — a drop of more than 50% — reducing potential mining revenues and margins.
Despite shuttering its mining pool, SBI Holdings remains active in the crypto sector: earlier this week the parent announced an agreement to acquire Japanese crypto exchange Bitbank for $289 million.
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