Japanese financial giant SBI Group invests heavily in crypto hardware maker Tangem

SBI Crypto Investment, a subsidiary of Japanese financial company, SBI Group has invested $15 million in a Swiss cryptocurrency hardware wallet producer, Tangem.

According to a press release today, the investment would enable Tangem to expand its service to sectors where the secure storage and circulation of blockchain assets have high potential: such as stablecoins, Initial Coin Offerings (ICOs), tokenized asset offerings, digital identity and more.

“With this investment in 2019, we will be able to extend our product offering in other industries and provide better support to companies which embrace the idea of the physical distribution of blockchain assets,” Tangem co-founder, Andrey Kurennykh said in the release.

Tangem believes in fostering the global adoption of cryptocurrencies and blockchain, through its crypto storage product designed to function as a “smart banknote for digital assets.”

Representative Director, President & CEO of SBI Holdings, Yoshitaka Kitao confirmed the news of SBI group investment with Tangem, stating that the move is part of efforts to expand its capital alliance with digital asset-related venture companies, to build an ecosystem of digital assets.

Additionally, SBI chose to invest with Tangem because of the company’s vision to boost the global demand of cryptocurrencies, with its “inexpensive” and “robust” wallet product, which could, in turn, increase the value of cryptocurrencies in the long run.  

“The Tangem hardware wallet, which is highly secure and affordable, is an important tool to promote mass adoption of digital assets and blockchain,” Kitao said.

SBI Group’s Constant Support for the Crypto Space

This is not the first time that SBI group would be venturing into cryptocurrency. In August 2018, SBI pledged its support for crypto exchanges in Japan despite the strict crypto regulations in the country, by investing heavily in  LastRoots – one of the unlicensed exchanges affected by the regulations imposed by Japan’s Financial Services Agencies (FSA).