Nomura's Laser Digital Japan wins a crypto exchange license, the first new registration in years. The unit will supply liquidity to institutional clients, not retail. Japan's regulatory reset looms.
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Nomura Holdings’ Laser Digital Japan has ended a roughly four-year stretch without a new licensed crypto exchange in the country. The unit completed registration as a Crypto Asset Exchange Service Provider under Japan’s Payment Services Act, the company said this week. The Kanto Local Finance Bureau lists it as registration No. 00032, and it has joined the Japan Virtual and Crypto Assets Exchange Association.
The license covers bitcoin, ethereum, XRP, bitcoin cash, litecoin and shiba inu. All six sit on the industry association’s “Green List,” meaning registered operators can offer them without separate regulatory filings for each token. Nomura is not using the license to chase retail traders. Laser Digital is starting where institutional desks need help: supplying liquidity to Japan’s licensed crypto firms so bigger orders can clear without tearing through thin order books. Institutional trading for professional Japanese investors comes later, though the firm has not pinned down a launch date or revealed its full product lineup.
The breakthrough carries weight because Japan has kept crypto operators on a short leash since the Mt Gox collapse in 2014 and the Coincheck hack in 2018. New registrations essentially dried up after 2022. Nomura’s bank-affiliated operation is a serious break from that pattern. Japan’s guardrails remain unforgiving. Client assets must stay separated from company funds. At least 95% of customer crypto is expected to sit in offline cold storage. Annual audits verify those controls. The license does not cover crypto derivatives or let Laser Digital sponsor an exchange-traded fund.
Steve Ashley, co-founder and executive chairman of Laser Digital, said the approval reflects growing demand from professional investors for regulated infrastructure. “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,” he said. “This registration reflects our ability to meet regulatory requirements in Japan, building on the track record we have established in other markets.”
Nomura’s own numbers show professional investors are warming up. A survey of 518 Japanese investment professionals found 31% were bullish on crypto’s one-year outlook. Another 65% saw digital assets as a diversification play. Among respondents considering an allocation within three years, 79% planned to invest. The firm is also making headway in the United States.
The timing puts Laser Digital ahead of Japan’s bigger regulatory reset. Lawmakers passed legislation July 15 to pull crypto deeper into the securities framework. Major provisions are expected by fiscal 2027. Policymakers are also weighing tax changes and rules that could eventually unlock domestic spot crypto investment products. For Nomura, license No. 00032 is the opening move. The real test is whether Laser Digital can turn wholesale liquidity into serious institutional volume before Japan’s next regulatory regime lands.
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