Japan's SBI and Rakuten Are Building Crypto Investment Trusts In-House!

SBI Securities and Rakuten Securities are developing crypto investment trusts internally, according to a Nikkei report — a significant signal that Japan's two most retail-facing brokerages are moving ahead of formal regulation rather than waiting for it.

They won't be alone for long. Nomura, Daiwa, SMBC, and Mizuho-linked Asset Management One are all weighing market entry once Japan's Financial Services Agency finalises the legal framework. The FSA is targeting inclusion of crypto assets in the Investment Trust Act's "specified assets" list by 2028, which would give the product class the same statutory legitimacy as equity and bond funds.

The combination of in-house development at the retail giants and a clear regulatory timeline from the FSA sets up Japan as one of the more structured institutional on-ramps to crypto in Asia over the next two to three years.