SBI's cryptoassets business records a record high for two consecutive terms, driven by B2C2 and SBI VC Trade 【Fiscal Year Ending March 2025】 | CoinDesk JAPAN

On May 9, SBI Holdings announced its financial results briefing for the fiscal year ending March 2025. Chairman and President Yoshitaka Kitao delivered a presentation that lasted over two hours. The revenue for the fiscal year ending March 2025 was 1.4437 trillion yen, an increase of 19.3% compared to the previous year, setting a new record high. Pre-tax profit rose by 99.4% to 282.3 billion yen.

By segment, four out of the five segments recorded their highest-ever revenue, with the cryptoassets segment achieving record highs in both revenue and pre-tax profit.

Following a strong financial report, Mr. Kitau's presentation was very passionate. The announcement of the figures was summarized in about 20 minutes, and the rest of the time was spent explaining the "Vision for the 30th Anniversary - A New Mid-term Vision Targeting the Fiscal Year Ending March 2029."

The cryptoassets segment has achieved record highs in both revenue and profit.

For the fiscal year ending March 2025, the revenue from the cryptoassets business was 80.8 billion yen (up 41.4% year-on-year), and the pre-tax profit was 21.2 billion yen (up 151.8%), both recording all-time highs. The cryptoassets business also recorded all-time highs in revenue and pre-tax profit in the previous fiscal year (ending March 2024), marking the second consecutive term in which both indicators have reached record levels.

The presentation materials for the financial results state, "In addition to the significant growth of the UK B2C2 company as a cryptoassets market maker, the expansion of the customer base and the success of new initiatives at the cryptoassets exchange have led to a record high in pre-tax profits for the business."

Furthermore, it is stated that "cryptoasset exchanges that are steadily expanding their customer base will strive to enhance stock businesses such as staking and leverage trading in order to stabilize their revenue base." In particular, it is forecasting the launch of new services at SBI VC Trade, which obtained approval as the first domestic electronic payment method transaction operator at the end of March and started handling the stablecoin "USDC."

Another point of interest is the shares of Ripple Labs held in the PE (Private Equity) investment business. The materials state, "Until a clear valuation is established through public offerings, the value of XRP held in escrow by the company will not be included," and in the presentation, Mr. Kitau mentioned, "If included, it would result in tremendous profits."

"I invested in Ripple over 10 years ago. Now, it is becoming a presence that generates significant unrealized gains, and I believe that if it were made public, it would far exceed 1 trillion yen. I want you to understand that such unrealized gains are possible," he continued.

Regarding B2C2, although I thought it was "too early" when I invested 9 billion yen to acquire it, it has become clear that several companies are now interested in buying it for over 100 billion. Recently, there were reports about a potential sale, but I firmly stated that "I have no intention to sell."

New Mid-term Vision: Group Customer Base of 100 Million, Profit of 500 Billion Yen

Most of Mr. Kitau's presentation was dedicated to explaining the new medium-term vision titled "The Desired State Aiming for the 30th Anniversary of Foundation (March 2029)". The goal was set to expand the group's customer base from 54.42 million in the fiscal year ending March 2025 to 100 million by the fiscal year ending March 2029, and to increase pre-tax profits from 282.3 billion yen to 500 billion yen.

In order to realize the new vision, it is necessary to further expand the "customer base, business assets, and fundraising capabilities" that have been accumulated thus far, and to aim for the expansion of the sales base. Additionally, in the digital realm, Mr. Kitauo stated that "a digital space ecosystem will be built to promote various initiatives utilizing digital technology."

The former focuses on initiatives in securities, but within that context, Mr. Kitao stated that "the era of only dealing with stocks and bonds from the Paleolithic age is over. We need to transition from analog to digital," referring to the efforts of the Osaka Digital Exchange (ODX), which is the secondary market for security tokens (ST).

Furthermore, "real-world assets (RWA) will all be tokenized. The tokenized economy will become the norm."

Regarding cryptoassets ETFs, it was stated, "Why can't we list them in Japan yet?" and "We will be left behind by the world." They also mentioned a partnership with the major U.S. asset management company Franklin Templeton, stating, "We are preparing to develop partnership products that include funds and ETFs incorporating cryptoassets, as well as digital assets that include security tokens."

They also mentioned that they are preparing an "investment trust incorporating cryptoassets" and are considering a product plan that allocates more than 51% of assets to a gold ETF comprising "gold and cryptoassets (digital gold)" and less than 49% to a cryptoassets ETF such as a Bitcoin ETF.

In the digital realm, expanding the customer base centered around cryptoasset exchanges (SBI VC Trade, BITPOINT) and promoting the adoption of the USD-pegged stablecoin "USDC," which started being handled domestically for the first time in March, were highlighted.

## Media Engagement

In the field of cryptoassets/Web3, although not directly related, Mr. Kitajo spent time presenting on media-related initiatives, stating that "SBI Group aims to build a neo-media ecosystem that integrates media, IT, and finance." Incidentally, the concept regarding media was already made clear in March at "FIM/SUM," and he prefaced that it is "completely unrelated" to the recent discussions surrounding Fuji TV.

Mr. Kitau mentioned first that "the hint lies in America," explaining that in the U.S., the growth of digital finance and the development of AI are occurring simultaneously and explosively, with the "fusion of media, IT, and finance" progressing. He introduced the case of the popular trading app Robinhood and the example of Blackstone, one of the largest alternative investment management companies in the world, acquiring a company that owns IP content. SBI also continued, stating that they will "thoroughly secure high-quality IP" and mentioned that they are considering creating a content fund on the scale of 100 billion.

Furthermore, Goldman Sachs and JP Morgan Chase are also expanding their efforts in the media sector, and Elon Musk's X (formerly Twitter) aims to be a comprehensive platform that can provide diverse functions by incorporating "AI and finance."

Moreover, it was stated that as a strength of the SBI Group, it "holds the highest quality and quantity of financial data in the country" and can "support the provision of highly targeted content and advertisements based on financial data," and as a "comprehensive financial distributor with a customer base of 54.42 million," it is capable of disseminating not only financial information but all types of information.

The overview of the neo-media ecosystem includes three points: "Contributing to regional revitalization through collaboration with local financial institutions as well as local newspapers and local stations," "Establishing a new content fund centered around the media domain," and "Aiming to build a neo-media ecosystem in collaboration with content funds under an open alliance strategy."

Regarding the content fund, it was stated that "we will create a fund of about 50 to 100 billion yen and selectively invest in companies that hold strong IP."

The movements of the SBI Group, led by Mr. Kitao, will likely have a significant impact on Japan's cryptoassets industry. It is also something that we in the media cannot take our eyes off.

The materials from the earnings announcement can be viewed on the SBI Holdings website.