SBI Securities, Rakuten Securities, and Nomura Holdings have announced plans to launch crypto investment trusts for retail clients in Japan. According to Nikkei, five major financial groups are simultaneously developing products to give ordinary investors access to Bitcoin and Ethereum through standard brokerage accounts. The launch timeline depends on regulatory changes Japan's FSA plans to finalize by 2028.
Who is building what
SBI Securities plans to sell funds developed by SBI Global Asset Management, covering both ETFs and classic investment trusts focused on liquid assets, with in-house development and distribution. Rakuten Securities is taking a similar route with Rakuten Investment Management, building products accessible directly through smartphone apps without opening a separate crypto exchange account.
Nomura and Daiwa have both confirmed they are developing their own trusts. SMBC Group's Nikko arm set up a cross-group task force to evaluate options. Asset Management One, part of Mizuho Financial Group, has begun preliminary research. Five groups are moving toward the same market at the same time.
Why retail access is changing now
Right now, a Japanese retail investor who wants to buy crypto must open a dedicated exchange account or set up a wallet. Investment trusts remove that hurdle. Existing brokerage accounts are enough, and millions of Japanese investors already have them. For a market with over 100 million active retail investors, this opens a wide new channel.
The business logic is simple. Brokerage commissions on traditional markets have been shrinking for years. Crypto funds offer a new source of management fees without restructuring anything on the client side. The investor stays in the interface they already use, and the broker earns an annual fee.
The regulatory shift that made this possible
In April 2026, Japan moved crypto assets under the same regulatory framework as stocks and bonds by amending the Financial Instruments and Exchange Act. If the bill passes in the current parliamentary session, the rules take effect in fiscal 2027.
The FSA is also preparing to amend the Investment Trust Act by 2028 to formally add crypto to the list of permitted holdings. Several groups have not committed to specific launch dates, waiting for the final regulatory text. SBI has already named two products it plans to build: a Bitcoin-XRP dual ETF and a gold-crypto ETF.
Risks the brokers are not advertising
Investment trusts lower the entry barrier but not the market risk. A retail investor used to stable bond funds may not be ready for 20-30% drawdowns in a matter of hours. For brokers who depend on a broad retail base, that is a real reputational exposure when markets sell off.
- holding crypto in a fund requires custody solutions that meet institutional standards
- SBI is handling custody internally; smaller players like Daiwa may turn to outside custodians, adding counterparty risk
- regulatory uncertainty until 2028 means conditions could change after products have already launched
Japan sets a new benchmark for the region
The US launched Bitcoin ETFs in 2024, Hong Kong followed with its own retail ETF a year later, and now Japan is preparing a mass distribution channel through investment trusts. Each new jurisdiction adds to the pool of regulated buyers. That supports structural demand for the top digital assets over the medium term.
Competition among five of Japan's biggest financial groups for the same market will compress development timelines. Another regulated retail channel for crypto means the institutional demand base keeps expanding. The direction is clear.
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