SBI Crypto to Close Five-Year-Old Bitcoin Mining Pool at End-July
SBI Crypto, the cryptocurrency arm of Japanese financial group SBI, has operated its Bitcoin mining pool for five years, combining miners’ computing power to validate blocks and distribute rewards. The pool currently ranks 12th globally and controls about 2.2% of the Bitcoin network’s hashrate. Its closure will therefore affect participating miners’ hashrate allocation and revenue arrangements.
SBI Crypto announced that it will formally discontinue its Bitcoin mining pool service on July 31, 2026. Participating miners must redirect their hashrate to other pools before the deadline. The company has not disclosed a specific reason for the closure or provided details of its next steps. The decision ends five years of operations and signals that SBI is readjusting its broader cryptocurrency business strategy.
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The history behind this eventSBI Shuts Bitcoin Pool as Top Three Control Nearly 60% of Hashrate
Bitcoin mining pools combine computing power from individual miners to improve the consistency of block rewards. While pools are central to the economics of mining, a heavy concentration of hashrate among a few operators can undermine Bitcoin’s decentralized design and heighten concerns over transaction censorship, block reorganizations and coordinated attacks. SBI Crypto, part of Japanese financial group SBI, had operated its own pool for about five years.
SBI Crypto closed its Bitcoin mining pool on July 31, ending roughly five years of operations. The exit came as Foundry USA, AntPool and F2Pool together accounted for nearly 60% of the network’s total computing power. The combination of SBI’s withdrawal and the growing share held by the three largest pools has renewed scrutiny of mining centralization and its potential implications for Bitcoin’s resilience and network security.
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