With the signing of a basic agreement for a business partnership with Saudi Aramco (SAOC), Japanese cryptocurrency financial group SBI Holdings has announced it is considering a partnership with Saudi Arabia’s state-owned oil company.
Indeed, this partnership envisions the joint development of projects such as the construction of semiconductor factories on territories of both Japan and Saudi Arabia, as well as co-investing in each other’s digital asset portfolios, according to a report published on December 11.
Specifically, the collaboration would take place in three areas – cooperation and mutual investments in the cryptocurrency field, discovery and support of Japanese crypto startups interested in expanding to Saudi Arabia, and launch of projects related to semiconductors, such as establishing factories in both countries.
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As it happens, SBI has been actively pursuing initiatives in the Middle East, particularly regarding the establishment of investment funds in partnership with local partners. To this end, it also plans the introduction of ‘SBI Middle East’ in Riyadh, which would help promote Japanese crypto startups in Saudi Arabia.
In addition to mulling a partnership with Saudi Aramco in terms of its efforts related to semiconductor production, SBI has teamed up with Taiwanese chip maker Powerchip Technology Corporation to set up a factory in the Miyagi Prefecture of Japan.
Saudi Arabia and crypto
Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia is looking to become a major crypto hub in the Middle East and has already topped the relevant charts between July 2022 and June 2023, ranking as the country with the highest crypto transaction growth volume over a 12-month period, according to an annual report issued earlier this year.
Notably, the kingdom led globally with a 12% year-over-year (YoY) crypto transaction volume growth, reaching nearly $31 billion from July 2022 through June 2023, compared to the same period from 2021 to 2022. Its runners-up were Vietnam with 11.6%, Nigeria with (9%), and Spain with 6.9%.
On top of that, the annual report by Chainalysis has since 2019 identified the region of Middle East and North Africa (MENA) as having the sixth largest crypto economy in the world, valued at $390 billion from July 2022 through June 2023, albeit still behind leading regions like North America and Western Europe.
