Japan's SBI and Rakuten enter the crypto trust market! The first wave supports Bitcoin products, allowing retail investors to place orders directly through the app.

SBI and Rakuten Securities in Japan are currently preparing Bitcoin investment trust products, lowering the barrier for retail investors to access digital assets. This move shows that Japan’s traditional finance is accelerating integration with the cryptocurrency market.

Japan’s major brokerage firms accelerate deployment in crypto investment

Two of Japan’s largest online brokerages, SBI Securities and Rakuten Securities, have recently reportedly been actively preparing crypto investment trust products. In the future, they will use their own apps and investment platforms to directly offer Japanese retail investors crypto-asset investment services, such as Bitcoin ($BTC). After the news was exposed, the market also viewed it as an important signal that Japan’s traditional financial system is further integrating with cryptocurrencies.

According to a report by Nikkei News, both companies are currently studying the launch of Bitcoin-centered investment trust products and assessing the possibility of adding other digital assets such as Ethereum ($ETH) in the future. In addition to SBI and Rakuten, Japan’s large financial institution Nomura has also reportedly been involved in related planning, indicating that Japan’s financial industry’s stance toward the commoditization of crypto assets is changing rapidly.

Because investment trusts are among the financial products most familiar to Japanese retail investors, the market believes this will help lower the barrier for ordinary investors to access cryptocurrencies. Compared with directly opening an exchange account, managing private keys, or using on-chain wallets, buying crypto investment products through existing brokerage platforms is more readily accepted by traditional Japanese investors.

Brokerages want to replicate the US Bitcoin ETF boom

Market analysis suggests that this brokerage deployment in Japan is largely driven by the success of the US spot Bitcoin ETF. Since the US spot Bitcoin ETF was approved, a large influx of institutions and traditional capital has started flowing into the crypto market, prompting Asian financial institutions to reassess related opportunities.

However, Japan has not yet officially opened spot crypto ETFs, so investment trusts are a relatively easier alternative to enter. Because Japan’s financial regulation is relatively conservative when reviewing ETF products, brokerages currently prefer to first test the waters in the form of investment trusts, and then observe subsequent regulatory developments and market demand.

• SBI Group has long been involved in the digital asset industry, and owns a crypto exchange, blockchain investments, and Web3 businesses.
• Rakuten continues to integrate financial services within its own ecosystem, including securities, banking, payments, and points systems.

Now that both sides are rolling out crypto trusts in parallel, it also indicates that major online financial platforms are beginning to view crypto assets as part of mainstream wealth-management products.

Japan’s regulatory stance gradually turning toward openness

In recent years, Japan’s government has increasingly shifted its approach to cryptocurrency regulation toward a more pragmatic direction. Although Japan was among the earliest countries to strengthen regulation following major incidents such as Mt.Gox and Coincheck, it also built relatively mature exchange management systems and user-protection rules. As the global financial market gradually accepts digital assets, Japan’s Financial Services Agency has also begun discussing relaxing certain restrictions on crypto products in recent years, including tax changes, stablecoin frameworks, and rules for institutional investment products.

The market generally believes Japan is trying to find a new balance between risk management and financial innovation. On the other hand, Japanese retail investors are not unfamiliar with highly volatile assets. From foreign exchange margin trading and overseas stocks to AI and semiconductor concept stocks in recent years, Japan’s retail investment market has long had highly active characteristics. Now that major brokerages are actively pushing crypto products, it may further accelerate the pace at which retail capital enters the digital asset market.

The boundary between traditional finance and the crypto market is gradually blurring

As brokerages, banks, and asset management companies continue to enter the crypto market, the line between traditional finance and digital assets is also rapidly blurring. In the past, cryptocurrencies mainly relied on native exchanges and on-chain platforms; now they are increasingly being packaged as traditional financial products and are becoming part of more mainstream asset-allocation options for ordinary investors.

Industry insiders point out that Japan’s largest brokerages’ biggest advantage lies in the fact that they already have a massive retail customer base and a mature app ecosystem. Once crypto investment trusts are officially launched, users can directly buy Bitcoin-related products through familiar platforms.

If Japan further opens up spot crypto ETFs, or allows more digital-asset financial products to be listed, competition in Asia’s crypto market may also intensify. In particular, with Hong Kong, Singapore, and Abu Dhabi in recent years continuing to actively vie for Web3 financial hub status, Japan’s renewed acceleration in deployment also signals a clear shift in how major Asian financial markets view cryptocurrencies.