Nomura Eyes to Ripple Dominance in Crypto Trading in Japan as Demand Rises

Nomura Holdings, Japan’s largest brokerage and investment banking group, eyes to ripple its dominance to the crypto market in the region. Nomura’s wholly owned subsidiary Laser Digital is in talks with Japan’s Financial Services Agency (FSA) for a crypto trading license.

Nomura Pushes for Crypto Trading License in Japan

$650 billion AUM investment giant Nomura’s arm Laser Digital is in early talks with Japan’s Financial Services Agency (FSA)  to secure a crypto trading license, according to a Bloomberg report on October 3

Chief executive officer (CEO) Jez Mohideen confirmed the firm’s plan to offer Bitcoin, Ethereum, and other crypto trading services to institutional investors. This comes as crypto transactions doubled in the first seven months of the year to 33.7 trillion JPY ($230 billion).

Mohideen said the crypto license will enable the firm to offer broker-dealer services for traditional financial firms and crypto companies, including crypto exchanges in Japan.

Japan’s FSA pushed for tax reforms to shift crypto gains into a flat 20% bracket, aligning them with stocks and bonds. Laser Digital received approval to roll out crypto derivatives in Dubai. Nomura has also expanded in Dubai and Singapore recently.

Deeper Expansion into the Crypto Market

Nomura continues to expand deeply in the crypto market, with the first launch of the regulated crypto custody firm Kominu, with Ledger and CoinShares in 2018.

The Laser Digital Bitcoin Adoption Fund was launched in 2023 to enable institutional investors to access digital assets amid rising demand. At that time, Nomura claimed to turn Laser Digital profitable in two years. Now, it competes with other traditional giants such as JPMorgan and Goldman Sachs amid rising demand for Bitcoin and other crypto assets.

The recent positive changes, including tax cuts, the launch of focused funds, and major crypto developments in partnership between Ripple and SBI Holdings, have boosted crypto adoption in Japan. This is clearly evident from Metaplanet becoming the 4th largest corporate Bitcoin treasury.

BTC price is trading above $120K in the past 24 hours, with a 24-hour low and high of $118,609 and $121,086, respectively. Furthermore, the trading volume has dropped slightly in the last 24 hours, indicating a decline in interest among traders.