According to a Bloomberg report, Nomura’s wholly owned subsidiary, Laser Digital Holdings AG, is planning to apply for a crypto trading license in Japan. The latter is said to be holding pre-consultation talks with Japan’s Financial Services Agency (FSA). The report quoted CEO Jez Mohideen saying that their entry into Japan, “reflects our optimism in the Japanese digital-asset ecosystem.”
Nomura Holdings is one of Japan’s largest and oldest securities and investment banking groups, with operations across global markets. Over time, Nomura has been strategically exploring Web3, blockchain, and security token infrastructure. Its innovation arm defines “Security Token Offering (STO)” and blockchain integration as core components of its digital strategy.
Laser Digital was established in 2022, headquartered in Switzerland, as Nomura’s arm in the digital assets domain. It already operates in regions such as Dubai, where it holds a full crypto license, and has offices in the UAE, UK, and Japan. Laser’s services include crypto brokerage, digital asset management, and venture investments, among others.
Through Laser Digital and partnerships like that with GMO Internet Group on regulated stablecoins, Nomura has sought to embed digital-asset capabilities into its broader financial ecosystem.
Tapping into Japan’s growing digital asset market
Japan’s crypto transaction volume has surged dramatically. In the first seven months of 2025 alone, total crypto trading volume reportedly reached 33.7 trillion yen or ~$ 230 billion. This is more than double in just a year. This rise can be attributed to the many regulatory reforms that the country is stepping up on. Take, for example, the proposals to lower capital gains taxes on crypto, or the new frameworks to treat crypto as financial instruments, and even the licensing of yen-backed stablecoins; all these point to a friendlier environment for institutions.
And Nomura is only following the footsteps of what other Japanese brokerages have already begun doing. Daiwa Securities, for example, began allowing clients to use Bitcoin and Ether as collateral to borrow yen. If Laser’s application gets a nod, it could operate as a broker-dealer in Japan, servicing both conventional financial institutions, asset managers, and crypto exchanges.
TradFi’s crypto awakening
Around the world, traditional financial institutions are edging deeper into crypto in various forms lately. In the U.S., Morgan Stanley is reportedly examining adding direct crypto trading to its E*Trade platform by 2026. Standard Chartered recently launched fully integrated spot trading for Bitcoin and Ether for institutional clients, bridging fiat and crypto via its existing FX and custody infrastructure. Binance and Coinbase are marketing “Crypto-as-a-Service” offerings to TradFi firms. By doing so, they are allowing brokerages and banks to plug into crypto markets without rebuilding infrastructure.
As clients and institutions push for crypto exposure, traditional firms cannot stay on the sidelines. Those who can build a regulated, scalable infrastructure may get the first-mover advantage.