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 currently preparing Bitcoin investment trust products to lower the barrier for retail investors to access digital assets. The move shows that Japan’s traditional financial sector is accelerating its integration with the cryptocurrency market.

Japan’s major securities firms accelerate crypto investment market deployment

Japan’s two major online securities firms, SBI Securities and Rakuten Securities, have recently been reported as actively preparing cryptocurrency investment trust products. In the future, through their own apps and investment platforms, they will directly offer investment services in crypto assets such as Bitcoin ($BTC) to Japanese retail investors. After the news was exposed, the market also viewed it as an important sign that Japan’s traditional financial system is further integrating with cryptocurrencies.

According to Nikkei News, the two companies are currently studying the launch of Bitcoin-based 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 been reported to be involved in related planning, indicating that Japan’s financial industry’s stance toward the tokenization of crypto assets is rapidly changing.

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 securities platforms is more acceptable for traditional Japanese investors.

Securities firms hope to replicate the U.S. Bitcoin ETF boom

Market analysis suggests that this deployment by Japanese securities firms is largely driven by the success of U.S. spot Bitcoin ETFs. After U.S. spot Bitcoin ETFs were approved, large inflows of institutions and traditional capital began entering the crypto market, prompting Asian financial institutions to reassess related opportunities.

However, Japan has not yet officially opened spot crypto ETFs, so investment trusts have become a more accessible alternative. Because Japan’s financial regulators apply relatively conservative review standards to ETF products, securities firms currently prefer to test the waters first 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 its subsidiaries hold a crypto exchange, blockchain investment, and Web3 businesses.
• Rakuten continues to integrate financial services into its own ecosystem, including securities, banking, payments, and points systems.

With both sides moving in sync to deploy crypto trusts, it also means that major online financial platforms are beginning to treat crypto assets as part of mainstream wealth management products.

Japan’s regulatory stance is gradually shifting toward openness

In recent years, the Japanese government’s approach to crypto regulation has gradually become more pragmatic. Although Japan was among the first countries to strengthen regulation after major incidents such as Mt.Gox and Coincheck, it also established relatively mature exchange management systems and user protection rules. As global financial markets increasingly accept digital assets, Japan’s Financial Services Agency has also begun discussing the easing of certain restrictions on crypto products in recent years, including tax reforms, stablecoin frameworks, and rules for institutional investment products.

The market widely 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 and overseas stocks to AI and semiconductor concept stocks in recent years, Japan’s retail investment market has always been highly active. Now that major securities firms are proactively promoting crypto products, the pace at which retail capital enters the digital asset market could further accelerate.

The line between traditional finance and crypto markets is gradually blurring

As securities firms, banks, and asset management companies continue to enter the crypto market, the boundary between traditional finance and digital assets is also rapidly blurring. In the past, cryptocurrencies mainly relied on native exchanges and on-chain platforms, but increasingly they are being packaged as traditional financial products, entering more asset allocation options for ordinary investors.

Industry insiders point out that the biggest advantage of Japan’s large securities firms lies in the fact that they already have a massive retail customer base and mature app ecosystems. 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 in the future, or allows more digital asset financial products to be listed, competition in Asia’s crypto market could also intensify. In particular, as Hong Kong, Singapore, and Abu Dhabi have continued to actively vie for Web3 financial hub status in recent years, Japan’s renewed acceleration in deployment also indicates a clear change in the attitude of major Asian financial markets toward cryptocurrencies.