Japan’s securities giants are collectively preparing to launch cryptocurrency investment trust products, biding their time for regulators to “open the gate.”

According to the latest survey by The Nikkei, SBI Securities and Rakuten Securities have clearly laid out plans to sell such products once the future regulatory framework is established. Among the 18 major brokerages surveyed, 11 said they would consider offering related services once the rules become clear, and large institutions such as Nomura Securities are also actively evaluating whether to move forward.

- **SBI Securities:** Plans to sell funds developed by its group’s SBI Global Asset Management, covering ETFs and investment trusts tracking mainstream cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin and Ethereum, to create an internal closed loop for product development and distribution.
- **Rakuten Securities:** Plans to work with group members to develop its own products and use a smartphone app to enable convenient trust trading.

The backdrop to this move is that Japan’s Financial Services Agency is pushing to bring crypto assets under the Financial Instruments and Exchange Act, granting them the same regulatory status as traditional securities, and is planning legal amendments to allow investment trusts to hold cryptocurrencies. At the same time, authorities are also discussing cutting the crypto gains tax rate from the current maximum of 55% to a unified 20% to lower the investment threshold. If progress goes smoothly, Japan’s crypto ETFs or investment trusts could be rolled out as early as 2027–2028.

This signals that Japan’s traditional financial industry is accelerating its entry into the crypto market, aiming to guide the vast pool of household savings into digital-asset investments through compliant products with lower taxes.