SBI Crypto, the mining subsidiary of Japanese financial giant SBI Holdings, has announced the closure of its Bitcoin mining pool, an infrastructure that represented approximately 2% of the network’s total hashrate. After five years of activity, the pool will cease operations in the coming weeks, a decision the firm attributes to an economic environment that has become unfavorable for mining activities.
SBI Crypto’s pool was among the ten largest mining pools globally by hashrate share, with a computing power estimated between 8 and 12 exahashes per second (EH/s) at the time of the announcement. Bitcoin is currently trading at $62,066, with the network’s total hashrate reaching approximately 600 EH/s, and a total crypto market capitalization of $2.26 trillion.
An increasingly difficult environment for miners
The closure of the SBI Crypto pool comes amid multiple pressures on the mining sector: the halving of block rewards in April 2024 reduced miners’ revenues by 50% (from 6.25 to 3.125 BTC per block), while energy costs remain high in several key regions (Southeast Asia, Europe). Furthermore, mining difficulty has reached record levels several times in 2026, making the activity unprofitable for the least efficient operators.
SBI Crypto’s pool was one of the few Japanese pools to appear in the global rankings. Its closure reduces Asian representation in the mining landscape — historically dominated by Chinese pools (2Miners, F2Pool, Poolin) — to just a few players. This consolidation could accelerate the concentration of hashrate in the hands of the largest North American (Foundry USA, Marathon Digital) and Chinese pools.
Consequences for the Bitcoin network
The offline status of 2% of the hashrate has no immediate impact on the network’s operation: mining difficulty adjusts automatically every 2,016 blocks (approximately two weeks) to guarantee an average block time of 10 minutes, regardless of the total hashrate. However, a coordinated withdrawal of several pools could lead to a temporary slowdown in block production until the next adjustment period.
Market reaction to this announcement has been contained, with Bitcoin continuing its upward trend initiated after accommodative comments from Fed Chair Warsh on inflation and weak US employment figures (+57,000 jobs in June).
SBI Holdings has not specified whether SBI Crypto’s teams and resources will be reallocated to other digital asset-related activities, but the firm retains its holdings in other crypto sectors, notably through its collaboration with Circle on the distribution of the USDC stablecoin in Japan.
DailyCryptoNews provides information, analysis, and educational content. No published content constitutes investment advice, a financial recommendation, or an incentive to buy or sell an asset.
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