Japan’s Nomura holdings is reducing its crypto exposure after the nation’s largest wealth management said it has incurred a loss through its subsidiary Laser Digital.
Nomura said it is cutting back crypto risk at Laser Digital, its Europe-based crypto subsidiary that oversees the group’s cryptocurrency trading, as market volatility weighs on the sector.
The comments, reported by Bloomberg Japan, came from Nomura CFO Hiroyuki Moriuchi, who stressed that the move does not signal a retreat from digital assets. The firm’s larger digital asset strategy remains in place, despite Laser Digital incurring a loss in the third quarter of 2025.
According to Moriuchi, Nomura’s long-term commitment to crypto remains intact, and the firm still plans to grow its digital asset business over time.
The move comes as a cautious but strategic approach, which is largely in tandem with market trends in the nation. Japanese companies have generally continued to back crypto despite turbulent markets, with even the most optimistic players adjusting their exposure as prices face sharp and sustained declines.
Last year, Nomura joined five other major Japanese wealth managers in exploring crypto-focused funds for local investors.
Laser Digital sets eyes on U.S charter approval for long term crypto services
Nomura, Japan’s largest wealth manager with about $153 trillion in client assets and a 15% share of the domestic market, plans on getting back to crypto asset expansion in the medium to long term.
Its digital asset arm, Laser Digital, has also applied for a U.S. national trust bank charter, a step that would allow it to operate across the country. If approved, Laser Digital aims to offer crypto custody and spot trading services to U.S. firms and residents, showing Nomura is being cautious now, but still betting on crypto’s long-term potential.
Nomura’s crypto push comes with price hurdles
The firm made its first big move into crypto in September 2022, launching Laser Digital in Switzerland as a dedicated hub for cryptocurrency trading, digital assets, and venture capital.
From the start, it was clear the firm saw this as a long-term play rather than a short experiment. By December of the same year, executives were already optimistic that Laser Digital could turn a profit by 2024.
The momentum, however, hasn’t been very straight forward. Laser Digital’s exposure to Bitcoin has made its profit numbers stay highly dependent on Bitcoin’s price.
Therefore, any fluctuations now result in a strategy change rather than a straight forward plan on the firm’s future prospect.
Bitcoin’s price has seen a slump of approximately 26 percent in the last quarter of 2025 alone, making Nomura’s plan of scaling back a logical explanation and move. The first month of 2026 has also added to uncertainties given that the og-crypto has slid over 16% in January 2026.
Market participants are now waiting for any future updates on the wealth manager’s plans, given that the move can dictate an overall industry trend, with firms following suit.