Japanese Mining Giant SBI Crypto Shuts Down Operations

Japanese firm SBI Crypto has officially ceased its Bitcoin mining pool operations. The shutdown, which concluded on July 31, followed a month of declining activity that saw the company's hashrate drop by more than 60 percent. Miners began disconnecting from the service on July 30, and the company has since transitioned to winding down its technical infrastructure while keeping historical payout data accessible to users.

The timing of the exit coincides with increased scrutiny regarding mining centralization. Data shows that three major entities, Foundry USA, AntPool, and F2Pool, now account for roughly 60 percent of recent Bitcoin blocks. While this high concentration has sparked debate about the security and decentralization of the network, industry watchers note that pool shares fluctuate constantly and these three giants were already holding significant dominance before SBI Crypto pulled its plug.

Despite the exit of a prominent player like SBI Crypto, it remains unclear where the remaining computing power is moving. Weekly data shows that even the top three pools experienced slight dips in their own hashrate, suggesting that the industry shift is complex. Market participants are now watching to see if this trend toward consolidation continues or if smaller pools will gain traction in the coming months.