Catenaa, Thursday, July 09, 2026-SBI Crypto, a subsidiary of Japanese financial services group SBI Holdings, will shut down its Bitcoin mining pool business on July 31, ending nearly a decade of mining operations as the sector faces rising economic pressures and increasing competition from artificial intelligence infrastructure.
The company announced that mining services will continue operating normally until the closure date, allowing participants to receive mining rewards as usual while preparations are made for an orderly shutdown.
SBI did not disclose a reason for ending the service.
The mining pool currently ranks as the world’s 11th largest by Bitcoin hash rate and also supports mining for Bitcoin Cash and Litecoin.
Mining pools allow individual miners to combine their computing power to improve their chances of successfully validating Bitcoin blocks.
Rewards earned by the pool are distributed among participants based on the amount of computing power each contributes.
With SBI Crypto’s exit, thousands of participating miners will need to migrate to alternative mining pools.
The company said it is working with other major mining operators, including Braiins and Luxor, to assist customers with the transition.
Some receiving operators are expected to offer preferential terms for former SBI mining participants.
SBI’s departure reflects broader challenges facing the global Bitcoin mining industry.
Mining profitability has come under sustained pressure following Bitcoin’s sharp decline from its record high reached late last year, while increasing network difficulty and higher operating costs continue squeezing margins.
Many mining companies are also facing growing competition for electricity and data center capacity as artificial intelligence infrastructure expands rapidly.
The changing economics are encouraging several firms to reassess long-term capital allocation.
The closure follows an industry-wide trend of Bitcoin miners redirecting resources toward artificial intelligence and high-performance computing.
Several publicly traded mining companies have announced partnerships with major technology firms to host AI computing infrastructure while reducing dependence on cryptocurrency mining revenues.
Others continue operating Bitcoin mining alongside AI services as a diversified business model.
Analysts expect additional miners to pursue similar strategies as demand for AI computing capacity continues accelerating.
Despite winding down its mining pool, SBI Holdings remains committed to the digital asset sector.
Earlier this week, the financial group agreed to acquire Japanese cryptocurrency exchange Bitbank in a transaction valued at approximately $289 million.
The acquisition strengthens SBI’s position in regulated cryptocurrency trading and digital financial services, indicating the company is shifting its focus toward higher-growth areas of the blockchain industry rather than resource-intensive mining operations.
The contrasting moves illustrate how traditional financial institutions are becoming increasingly selective about where they invest within the digital asset ecosystem.
Industry analysts expect consolidation among Bitcoin mining operators to continue, particularly as companies seek greater operational efficiency and diversify into adjacent technology sectors.
Large mining pools with lower operating costs and stronger balance sheets are likely to absorb participants from smaller operators exiting the market.
Bitcoin mining pools combine computing power from multiple participants to increase the probability of validating blocks on the Bitcoin blockchain. Participants share block rewards in proportion to the computational resources they contribute, making mining more predictable than operating independently. Japan has played an important role in cryptocurrency development through its regulated digital asset industry, with companies such as SBI Holdings investing across exchanges, blockchain infrastructure and digital financial services. As artificial intelligence drives unprecedented demand for power and data center capacity, many mining companies are increasingly diversifying into AI computing, cloud infrastructure and other high-performance technology services while reducing reliance on Bitcoin mining alone.
