Banking Giant SBI In Japan Invests In Cryptocurrency Hardware

The financial services arm of Japan’s SBI Group, SBI Holding, has incorporated another cryptocurrency hardware wallet maker to its existing portfolio of cryptocurrency businesses according to news cited from Coindesk.

This news was stated on March 2, when the financial giant stated that it has bought a 40 percent stake in CoolBitX, a Taiwan-based manufacturer of “cold” wallets – hardware devices used to store private keys to cryptocurrency assets in an offline environment.

“CoolBitX has previously received $500,000 in funding that it said at the time it would use to develop its hardware as part of its push into the broader blockchain security industry,” noted the reporter.

And while this report did not specify the exact amount of the investment, the announcement clearly shows the recent move by the Japanese financial firm in extending its investment in the blockchain ecosystem, including both hardware and software.

Coindesk reported that the SBI Holdings gave out plans in October last year that it would move to acquire cryptocurrency directly through activities that include mining.

“As early as in 2016, the firm also said it would launch Japan’s first bank-backed cryptocurrency exchange, which had later gained registration with the country’s financial regulator. However, as reported recently, the plan for the official launch of trading has been delayed due to security issues,” reported the news.

“In addition, through a partnership with the blockchain remittance startup Ripple in 2016, SBI Holdings c0-established a new firm dubbed SBI Ripple Asia in an effort to bring domestic banks on board to pilot blockchain technology in cross-border remittance,” it added.