Nomura’s Crypto Subsidiary Laser Digital Opens Office in Japan

Laser Digital, the digital asset subsidiary of financial services giant Nomura, has opened a new Tokyo base, to expand its presence in the Far East.

Former Nomura’s executive director Hideaki Kudo, has been appointed to head the new office in Japan. Kudo has previously worked on several projects for Nomura including the development of security tokens for Nomura Group. He also served as a senior portfolio manager at Nomura Asset Management, the company said in an announcement on Monday.

“Kudo-san’s experience at the Digital Company will be invaluable to Laser Digital’s development and growth, we are thrilled to welcome him to our team,” Nomura’s co-founder Steven Ashley noted.

“To optimize support of our trading business we wanted to have 24/7 operational management, so for coverage in the far east Japan was obviously our top choice.”

Laser Digital’s expansion into Asian markets comes a week after the firm announced receiving an in-principal license to operate in Dubai. On Sept. 26, the Abu Dhabi Global Market (ADGM), an international financial free zone in Abu Dhabi, granted the operational license to provide broker-dealer services and asset/fund management services in relation to both virtual and traditional assets.

Nomura did not provide further information on its new Tokyo office at this time.

Last month, Nomura’s Laser Digital introduced a new fund providing Bitcoin (BTC) exposure to institutional clients. Dubbed the Bitcoin Adoption Fund, it provides long-only exposure and will be the first in a range of such digital asset investment products offered by Laser Digital.

Further, the company noted at the time, that the fund will use Komainu, a joint venture between Nomura, Ledger and CoinShares, for custody of client assets.

In an interview with Financial News in June, Jez Mohideen, CEO of Laser Digital said that the cryptocurrency regulatory clarity in Asia, particularly Japan and Hong Kong, will boost retail participation, at a time when the industry has learnt lessons from US failures.