Nomura's Laser Digital Japan Registers as Crypto Exchange Operator, a 4-Year First, With Bitcoin (BTC)

Nomura Holdings' digital asset subsidiary Laser Digital Japan completed registration as a crypto exchange operator under Japan's Payment Services Act on August 21, a market-structure event that ended a roughly four-year freeze on new domestic entrants. The registration, numbered Kanto Finance Bureau Director No. 00032, makes Laser Digital Japan the first new crypto exchange operator since Melcoin was registered in June 2022 — a gap of about four years and two months, according to the Financial Services Agency's official registry. The company said it will first direct its services at existing domestic crypto exchanges to improve market liquidity, and it is considering offering digital asset trading opportunities to Japanese institutional investors. The FSA registry lists six crypto assets the firm is permitted to handle: Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH), XRP, Bitcoin Cash (BCH), Litecoin (LTC) and Shiba Inu (SHIB). That lineup pairs Bitcoin with five altcoins and gives the new entrant a multi-asset footprint from the outset. Laser Digital Japan was incorporated on October 2, 2023, as a subsidiary of Laser Digital Holdings, and it joined the Japan Virtual and Crypto Assets Exchange Association (JVCEA) as a second-class member in September 2025. The operator has not yet disclosed when services will launch or what products it will offer.

The registration also makes Laser Digital Japan the 27th licensed crypto exchange operator in Japan, a count derived from the FSA's registry. President Hideaki Kudo described the completed registration as an important milestone in the company's roadmap after what he called a strict review process, and he pledged to operate within a compliance and user-protection framework. Laser Digital co-founder and CEO Jez Mohideen said Japan's digital asset market has entered a new phase of maturity, with institutional interest rising while the counterparties and infrastructure needed to serve those institutions remain scarce. That demand is reflected in a Nomura Holdings and Laser Digital survey published in April 2026, which found that 65% of institutional respondents treat crypto assets, including altcoins, as a portfolio diversification opportunity, and around 79% of that group plans to invest within three years. The company views the roughly four years without a new exchange registration as a period in which Japan advanced reforms involving stablecoin frameworks and other digital asset rules, shifting institutional concerns from unfamiliarity with the asset class toward practical operational questions. Kudo added that the firm aims to support the long-term growth of the Japanese market under its compliance framework.

Laser Digital Japan's registration is the culmination of a domestic entry plan that began with its Tokyo incorporation in October 2023. At the time, the entity's stated scope included operations services for group companies, digital asset business development and research. Reports in February 2026 indicated that the company intended to file for exchange registration within the year. Parent company Laser Digital has built a global digital asset track record since 2023, including the launch of a Bitcoin Adoption Fund and, in January 2026, an institutional Bitcoin yield fund. In Japan, the firm said it will carry over the risk-management and governance frameworks developed in that global expansion to deliver compliance-focused services. The initial role is to provide liquidity to domestic crypto exchange operators, which the company says should help activate the broader market, with services for Japanese institutional investors still under consideration. The FSA's latest registry confirms the same six-asset scope, placing Bitcoin alongside altcoins such as XRP and Shiba Inu. Further details on launch timing and service breadth are expected to be announced later.

Together, the registration, the executive commentary and the survey data describe one arc: institutional-grade entry into Japan's regulated crypto market is accelerating. The controlling primary source is the official FSA registry, which records Laser Digital Japan under registration No. 00032 as a completed authorization, not a proposal. That authorization is effective August 21 and binds the firm to the Payment Services Act and the Kanto Finance Bureau's compliance and user-protection requirements. The registry also fixes the permitted asset scope at six tokens — Bitcoin (BTC) plus five altcoins — allowing the operator to run a multi-asset book immediately. What remains open, as the company has said, is the launch date and the exact institutional product set that will follow. Until those disclosures, the six-asset authorization stands as the concrete regulatory fact.