SBI Crypto, the mining arm of Japanese financial heavyweight SBI Holdings, will shut down its Bitcoin mining pool on July 31, the company announced. No reason was provided for the move, but SBI said the pool will continue to operate “under normal conditions” until the planned closure and that miners can keep receiving payouts during that period.
Background and scale
- SBI Crypto has offered mining services since at least 2017 and currently ranks as the 11th-largest Bitcoin mining pool by hash rate, according to Hashrate Index. Its pool also supports Bitcoin Cash and Litecoin.
- For smaller miners, pools like SBI’s let participants combine hashing power to increase the chance of finding blocks; rewards are split among contributors proportional to the computational power they supply.
Customer transition support
SBI said it will help customers migrate by holding “business and technical discussions” with other pool operators, naming Braiins and Luxor as potential partners. The firm suggested some operators may extend special programs or preferential terms to clients switching from SBI Crypto.
Industry context
SBI’s exit from the mining pool market follows a broader trend of major mining firms pivoting away from mining toward higher-margin computing opportunities in artificial intelligence. Last year, publicly traded miner Bitfarms announced it would wind down mining operations, rebrand as Keel Infrastructure, and shift focus to AI. Other large miners have struck multi‑billion‑dollar AI compute deals even while maintaining some Bitcoin operations.
Pressure on mining economics
The company’s decision comes amid tougher economics for miners: Bitcoin’s price is now more than 50% below its recent all‑time high of $126,080 reached last October, reducing mining profitability and squeezing margins for operators.
What remains the same
While SBI is exiting the mining pool business, its parent company continues to expand in crypto: earlier this week SBI Holdings agreed to acquire Japanese exchange Bitbank for $289 million.
What miners should do
SBI pool users should prepare to migrate before July 31, evaluate alternative pools for fees and payout schemes, and look out for any transitional incentives from operators like Braiins and Luxor that may be targeted at SBI customers.
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