Japan’s Financial Services Agency approved Nomura Group’s Laser Digital to operate as a crypto asset exchange service provider on Friday, marking the country’s first crypto exchange license in four years.
The authorization comes as Japan’s regulatory framework for digital assets hardens. In July, parliament passed revisions classifying crypto assets as financial assets under the Financial Instruments and Exchange Act (FIEA), shifting oversight from the Payment Services Act to rules governing traditional securities. Finance Minister Satsuki Katayama signaled the shift in January, stating intent to bring crypto under the same regulatory umbrella as equities and bonds.
Laser Digital, a digital asset subsidiary of Nomura Group, becomes the first platform to receive FSA authorization since Binance Japan in October 2022. Jez Mohideen, co-founder and CEO of Laser Digital, said the approval reflects “a new phase of maturity,” creating a need for “trusted counterparties and infrastructure” as “institutional investors increase their interest in this asset class.”
The regulatory revisions that paved the way for Laser Digital’s approval take effect within one year by Cabinet order. Those changes will introduce insider trading rules and strengthen oversight of crypto trading venues. The FSA issued the registration list showing Laser Digital’s approval on August 21.
The company has not disclosed the effective date of its license or when it will begin operations. Laser Digital also did not detail the specific scope of services it will provide beyond domestic liquidity and institutional crypto trading.
