Japan’s National Fund To Invest In Bitcoin, Crypto As New Digital Asset Bill Advances

Japan’s National Business Corporate Pension Fund is set to invest in Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies in fiscal 2026. It is joining a rare club of local pension institutions as Japan moves forward with reforms to integrate digital assets into its financial system.

Japan’s Pension Moves To Add Bitcoin, Crypto Into Portfolio

For context, the pension fund is held by over 1200 small and medium-sized businesses and over 20000 members Japan. Moreover, with such a large scale business, it has now decided to plow about 1% of its capital into crypto-related investments.

The fund will not buy tokens outright, but instead will be exposed to the tokens by investing in a wide array of investment vehicles run by large hedge funds with several digital assets.

The decision follows the fund’s asset allocation plan in overhaul. In its fiscal 2026 budget, the yen has been reduced on the exposure front and allocations given to foreign currencies and other assets have been increased. Along with gold and fiat, cryptocurrencies are being looked at as another means to diversify risk associated with traditional currencies.

The strategy review was influenced, in part, by concerns about the potential of the U.S. dollar’s continued dominance in the global financial system, said Aiyu Kiguchi, the fund’s executive director responsible for investments. He also noted that Bitcoin has had limited correlation with the dollar index, which is another factor favoring its addition to the portfolio.

The fund has also been studying the digital asset space for almost six years, Kiguchi added, per local news publisher CoinPost. He said the expansion of the institutional participant and investor base helped foster the perception that the market is mature enough to be considered by pension managers.

Further, the pension fund is also exploring crypto-specific strategies. It includes arbitrage funds that aim to profit from discrepancies between the prices of digital currencies. Also, the move coincides with the Japan Exchange Group looking to list spot Bitcoin ETFs after regulatory clarity.

Regulatory Scene In The Country

This year, there were proposals to include cryptocurrencies under Japan’s securities laws, which were submitted recently. It includes a number of conversations around a new tax regime with a potential 20% tax on crypto gains, down from 55% currently. The House recently passed these reforms, which could lead to Bitcoin, Ethereum, XRP and other crypto being treated like stocks.

Regulators, meanwhile, are mulling over granting permission for investment trusts to acquire digital assets. They see this move as a prerequisite for approval of spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds in Japan.

The market is also maturing, as the Osaka Exchange also indicated that it will begin offering Bitcoin futures trading. However, this offering hinges on approval of BTC spot ETFs by the regulators.

Other big brokerages such as Ripple-backed SBI Holdings, Rakuten Securities and other leading firms are also getting ready to provide investment products linked to cryptocurrencies when the regulations are finalized.