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.

Japan’s SBI and Rakuten Securities are preparing Bitcoin investment trust products to lower retail investors’ barriers to accessing digital assets. This move indicates Japan’s traditional finance sector is accelerating integration with the cryptocurrency market.

Major Japanese brokerages accelerate their layout in the crypto investment market

Recently, Japan’s two major online brokerages, SBI Securities and Rakuten Securities, have been actively preparing cryptocurrency investment trust products. In the future, they will directly offer Bitcoin ($BTC) and other digital asset investment services to Japanese retail investors through their own apps and investment platforms. After the news broke, it was also seen by the market as an important signal of Japan’s traditional financial system further integrating with cryptocurrencies.

According to Nikkei News, both companies are currently researching the launch of Bitcoin-focused investment trust products and evaluating the possibility of including other digital assets such as Ethereum ($ETH) in the future. Besides SBI and Rakuten, Japan’s large financial institution Nomura is also reportedly involved in related plans, indicating a rapid shift in Japan’s financial industry’s attitude toward the tokenization of crypto assets.

Since investment trusts are among the most familiar financial products for Japanese retail investors, this move is believed to help lower the barriers for ordinary investors to access cryptocurrencies. Compared to directly opening exchange accounts, managing private keys, or on-chain wallets, purchasing crypto investment products through existing brokerage platforms is more acceptable to traditional Japanese investors.

Brokerages aim to replicate the US Bitcoin ETF boom

Market analysis suggests that Japan’s brokerage layout is largely driven by the success of the US spot Bitcoin ETF. Since the approval of the US spot Bitcoin ETF, a large influx of institutional and traditional funds into the crypto market has begun, prompting Asian financial institutions to reassess related opportunities.

However, Japan has not yet officially approved spot crypto ETFs, so investment trusts are a more accessible alternative. Due to Japan’s relatively conservative regulatory review of ETF products, brokerages currently prefer to test the waters with investment trusts first, observing subsequent regulatory developments and market demand.

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

Now that both parties are simultaneously deploying crypto trusts, it also indicates that large online financial platforms are beginning to view digital assets as part of mainstream wealth management products.

Japan’s regulatory attitude is gradually becoming more open

In recent years, the Japanese government’s stance on cryptocurrency regulation has become more pragmatic. Although Japan was one of the earliest countries to strengthen regulation following major incidents like Mt.Gox and Coincheck, it also established relatively mature exchange management systems and user protection standards. As the global financial market increasingly accepts digital assets, Japan’s Financial Services Agency (FSA) has recently begun discussing easing certain restrictions on crypto products, including tax reforms, stablecoin regulations, and institutional investment standards.

The market generally believes that 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 high-volatility assets. From forex margin trading, overseas stocks, to recent AI and semiconductor concept stocks, Japan’s retail investment market has always been highly active. Now, with major brokerages actively promoting crypto products, the pace of retail capital entering the digital asset market could further accelerate.

The boundaries between traditional finance and crypto markets are gradually blurring

As brokerages, banks, and asset management firms continue to enter the crypto space, the line between traditional finance and digital assets is rapidly becoming less distinct. In the past, cryptocurrencies mainly relied on native exchanges and on-chain platforms, but now they are increasingly packaged as traditional financial products, entering more asset allocation options for ordinary investors.

Market insiders point out that Japan’s large brokerages have the biggest advantage in that they already possess a huge retail base and mature app ecosystems. Once crypto investment trusts are officially launched, users can directly purchase Bitcoin-related products through familiar platforms.

If Japan further opens up spot crypto ETFs or allows more digital asset financial products to be listed in the future, competition in the Asian crypto market could intensify. Especially as Hong Kong, Singapore, and Abu Dhabi have been actively vying for Web3 financial hub status in recent years, Japan’s renewed acceleration in deployment also signifies a clear shift in the attitude of major Asian financial markets toward cryptocurrencies.