Japan's two largest online brokerages are developing crypto investment trusts in-house and plan to sell them directly to retail investors, according to a Nikkei Asia report on Sunday.
SBI Securities will distribute funds built by group company SBI Global Asset Management, with the planned lineup spanning both ETFs and investment trusts tied to liquid assets such as bitcoin and ether, Nikkei reported. The group intends to handle everything from product development to distribution internally.
Rakuten Securities is taking a similar in-house approach through Rakuten Investment Management, with the products designed to trade directly via its smartphone app, per the report.
Among 18 major Japanese brokerage firms surveyed by Nikkei, another 11 said they would consider offering crypto investment trust products once the regulatory framework is finalized. Nomura Securities and Daiwa Securities have already announced plans to develop trusts inside their respective groups, while SMBC Group, including SMBC Nikko, has formed a cross-group task force. Asset Management One, the asset manager under Mizuho Financial Group, has begun preliminary research, Nikkei said.
Japan's Financial Services Agency is moving to revise the enforcement order of the Investment Trust Act by 2028, which would formally add cryptocurrencies to the list of specified assets that investment trusts can hold. Separately, the cabinet approved a bill in April reclassifying crypto under the Financial Instruments and Exchange Act; if passed in the current Diet session, the law would take effect as early as fiscal 2027 and bring crypto under the same securities regime as stocks and bonds.
