SoftBank is investing in Bitcoin again after losing $130 million in 2018. What's different this time?
SoftBank is returning to cryptocurrencies years after its founder Masayoshi Son lost $130 million on Bitcoin.
Helen Brown, Tom Carreras | Edited by Aoyon Ashraf on April 24, 2025, 6:17 PM
What you need to know:
- SoftBank is backing a new bitcoin investment firm, Twenty One Capital, along with Tether, Bitfinex and Cantor Fitzgerald.
- The move marks the $308.7 billion asset manager's return to cryptocurrencies after its founder Masayoshi Son lost $130 million on personal investments in bitcoin.
- SoftBank's renewed interest in cryptocurrencies comes amid an unexpected $2.4 billion quarterly loss and the company's involvement in a $100 billion U.S. artificial intelligence infrastructure initiative.
Japanese investment giant SoftBank is diving back into the world of cryptocurrencies, backing new Bitcoin (BTC) investment vehicle Twenty One Capital alongside Tether, Bitfinex and Cantor Fitzgerald.
For some, SoftBank Group, which manages $308.7 billion in assets, is taking an interest in Bitcoin as a welcome development and evidence of growing institutional adoption of the cryptocurrency. After all, SoftBank functions as Japan’s sovereign wealth fund, according to Jeff Park, head of alpha strategy at Bitwise.
However, to seasoned observers, this may seem more like déjà vu than a breakthrough.
Back in 2019, SoftBank made headlines when its founder Masayoshi Son suffered significant losses due to his personal investments in Bitcoin.
Son got into cryptocurrency in late 2017, when the ICO boom was at its peak and Bitcoin was trading at a record price of around $20,000.
At Bitcoin’s current price of $93,000, Son’s investment could have made him a significant profit if he had held on to it. However, he sold it in early 2018 when Bitcoin began to decline, resulting in a $130 million loss, according to the Wall Street Journal.
So the question investors may now be asking is: Will things be different this time?
For a clue, let's look at Oracle (ORCL) stock. US President Donald Trump recently announced that SoftBank would be part of a $100 billion project to build AI infrastructure in the US, along with OpenAI and Oracle (ORCL).
One might say that this is a bullish signal for ORCL stock. However, since the announcement on January 22, which coincided with ORCL shares hitting a high of $188 per share, the stock has fallen 28%, while the Nasdaq has fallen 12% over the same period.
Other external factors, such as macroeconomic difficulties and geopolitical tensions, could explain the weak performance. It could also be a coincidence. However, one analyst linked Oracle’s selloff to SoftBank’s involvement in the AI infrastructure project.
“When SoftBank enters an asset you hold, you sell. I don’t make the rules,” Quinn Thompson, founder of crypto hedge fund Lekker Capital, wrote in a post on X, commenting on the decline of Oracle shares.
