Nomura's Laser Digital Scores Major Crypto Approval in Japan

Nomura's Laser Digital has secured registration as a crypto asset exchange service provider in Japan, becoming the first new entrant into the country's crypto industry in four years.

The approval marks the culmination of roughly ten months of work with Japanese regulators and arrives just as the market enters a period of structural change.

Laser Digital will initially offer liquidity services to domestic virtual-asset service providers, with plans to expand into digital-asset trading for institutional investors at a later date.

The approval is significant because Japan reclassified cryptocurrencies as financial instruments in July, establishing the legal framework for potential crypto exchange-traded funds and separate taxation of crypto assets.

A 2026 survey by Nomura and Laser Digital found that 79% of institutional investors planned to invest in crypto assets within the next three years.