Japanese financial group SBI Holdings is moving to deepen its presence in the crypto sector, announcing plans to take a controlling position in Singapore-based exchange Coinhako.

In Friday AnnouncementThe Tokyo-listed firm said its wholly-owned subsidiary, SBI Ventures Asset, has signed a letter of intent with Coinhako’s parent company, Holdbuild, to invest in the business and buy shares from existing investors. Upon completion, the transaction will give SBI Holdings a majority stake and make Coinhako an integrated subsidiary, subject to regulatory approval.

“Bringing CoinHaku as an integrated subsidiary into the SBI Group is not just an investment in a platform,” said chairman and CEO Yoshitaka Kitao, describing the acquisition as part of a broader effort to build an international infrastructure for digital assets, including tokenized securities and stablecoins.

Financial terms and ownership details were not disclosed, and the structure of both the investment and share purchase is under discussion, according to the announcement. The non-binding agreement will give SBI a licensed base in Singapore, one of Asia’s main regulated crypto hubs.

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Coinhako operates a licensed crypto trading platform in Singapore.

Based in Singapore, Coinhako operates a regional digital asset trading platform and related services through Hako Technology, a major payment institution (MPI) licensed by the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS). The group also operates AlphaHaco, a registered virtual asset service provider regulated by the British Virgin Islands Financial Services Commission.

In 2021, SBI Holdings invested in Coinhako through the SBI-Sygnum-Azimut Digital Asset Opportunities Fund, a joint vehicle with Switzerland’s Sygnum Bank.

Coinhako co-founder and CEO Yusho Liu said the new partnership will allow the exchange to scale institutional ranking systems and “meet the growing demand for tokenized assets and stablecoins, ensuring Singapore remains at the center of the world’s next-generation financial system.”

Cointelegraph reached out to SBI Holdings for comment, but had not received a response by publication.

Related: Singapore’s ‘finance-savvy’ crypto-retailer prefers trust over low fees: survey

SBI Holdings Expands Blockchain Footprint

SBI Holdings has been active in blockchain projects for several years, investing in tokenization projects, payment networks and crypto-related businesses.