SBI Crypto, a wholly owned unit of the Japanese financial heavyweight SBI Holdings, is winding down its Bitcoin mining pool services. The company shared the news itself. Notably, it offered no reason for the decision, but made clear that operations will come to a full stop on July 31.
The firm has sought to reassure its customers that nothing will change before that date. According to the company, the pool will keep running under normal conditions until then, and users can continue mining and receiving their payouts just as they always have. Its stated aim is to keep delivering stable and reliable mining pool operations right up to the planned closure date.
A Business Running Since 2017
According to its website, the company has offered a cryptocurrency mining service since at least 2017. Data from Hashrate Index shows it currently runs the 11th largest Bitcoin mining pool by hash rate. Beyond Bitcoin, the pool also lets users mine Bitcoin Cash and Litecoin.
Bitcoin mining pools give smaller players a way to team up. Many participants combine their resources and computing power, or hash rate, to compete for Bitcoin blocks and the BTC rewards that come with them. The moment the pool finds a block, the rewards are split among the members in proportion to the resources each one contributed.
Users Will Need a New Home
SBI's mining pool users will now have to look elsewhere. The company says it is trying to ease that transition by holding business and technical discussions with other mining pool operators such as Braiins and Luxor. It added that some operators may roll out special programs or preferential terms for clients moving over from SBI Crypto.
Big Miners Racing Toward AI
SBI Crypto's exit from mining fits a wider pattern. Large Bitcoin miners have been leaving the field in search of better returns in artificial intelligence. Last year, publicly traded miner Bitfarms said it would wind down its operations entirely as it pivoted to AI and rebranded as Keel Infrastructure.
Other major miners have struck multi-billion-dollar AI compute deals with big tech firms, even while keeping their Bitcoin operations running. With Bitcoin's price falling, the mining business has grown steadily tougher for companies. The leading cryptocurrency is now down more than 50% from its all-time high of $126,080, set last October.
The Parent Company Still Betting on Crypto
Even as SBI drops its mining business, its parent company is pressing ahead in crypto. Earlier this week, SBI Holdings announced it had agreed to buy the Japanese crypto exchange Bitbank for $289 million.
