Japan corporate pension to allocate 1% to crypto in 2026

Japan’s National Business Corporate Pension Fund will allocate about 1% of assets to cryptocurrency exposure in fiscal 2026 by investing in passive multi-asset funds that hold digital tokens. The allocation is aimed at hedging against a weaker yen and a potentially less dominant U.S. dollar. The pension plan will not buy tokens directly.

The Okayama City-based fund manages about ¥21.3 billion (roughly $136 million) for around 1,200 small and medium-sized enterprises and more than 20,000 members. A 1% allocation equals about ¥213 million, or roughly $1.36 million. Exposure will come through passive multi-asset funds operated by major hedge funds; the fund has not disclosed which tokens those products hold.

The fund will cut yen exposure from 80% to 70% in fiscal 2026, add 10 percentage points to developed-market currencies, and allocate roughly 5% across emerging-market currencies, gold and crypto combined. Aiyu Kiguchi, the fund’s executive director of operations, noted that “the dollar’s nature as a base currency may be weakening.” Fund representatives pointed to cryptocurrencies’ low correlation with the dollar index as a reason for including them.

Trustees spent six years researching alternative assets and concluded that crypto markets now have deeper liquidity and a broader investor base than in earlier years.

The fund’s funded ratio stands above 140% and its effective equity ratio exceeds 30%, figures trustees cited when approving the allocation.

Japan’s legal framework for digital assets changed after a bill passed on June 11, 2026 that moves crypto oversight to the Financial Instruments and Exchange Act, a revision that could allow crypto exchange-traded funds. The Osaka Exchange has targeted 2028 for bitcoin futures trading. Major domestic brokerages including SBI, Rakuten, Nomura and Daiwa are preparing investment trusts that include cryptocurrencies.

At about $1.36 million, the pension’s crypto exposure is too small to affect market prices. The allocation is among the first public disclosures of crypto holdings by a Japanese corporate pension fund.