Nomura unit wins first Japan crypto license in four years

Nomura’s Laser Digital Japan completed registration this week with the Kanto Local Finance Bureau as a Crypto Asset Exchange Service Provider and was listed as registration No. 00032. The unit joined the Japan Virtual and Crypto Assets Exchange Association. It is the first new crypto exchange registration in about four years.

The license covers bitcoin, ethereum, XRP, bitcoin cash, litecoin and shiba inu. Those six tokens appear on the industry association’s Green List, which allows registered operators to offer them without separate approvals for each asset. The registration permits Laser Digital to supply wholesale liquidity and trade the listed tokens.

Laser Digital said it will begin by providing liquidity to licensed crypto firms so larger orders can execute without moving thin order books. The firm does not plan to launch a retail trading app immediately. It has not given a firm launch date for institutional trading or published a full product lineup.

The registration does not cover crypto derivatives and does not allow the firm to sponsor exchange-traded funds. Nomura described the approval as a response to growing demand from professional investors for regulated infrastructure and said the unit builds on its track record in other markets.

Japan requires strict custody and compliance for crypto operators. Client assets must be kept separate from company funds, at least 95% of customer crypto is generally expected to be held offline in cold storage, and annual audits are used to verify controls. New registrations largely stopped after 2022 following regulatory tightening that intensified after the 2014 collapse of Mt. Gox and the 2018 Coincheck hack.

Nomura’s internal survey of 518 Japanese investment professionals found 31% were bullish on crypto’s one-year outlook and 65% viewed digital assets as a diversification tool. Among respondents considering an allocation within three years, 79% planned to invest. Nomura is also expanding related efforts in the United States.

Lawmakers passed legislation on July 15 to bring more crypto activity under Japan’s securities framework, with major provisions scheduled to take effect in fiscal 2027. Policymakers are reviewing tax rules and frameworks that could enable domestic spot crypto investment products in the future.

“As institutional appetite for digital assets grows across global markets, sophisticated investors are increasingly looking for access and the necessary quality of infrastructure behind it,” Steve Ashley, co-founder and executive chairman of Laser Digital, said.