Japan’s two largest online brokerages are building in-house cryptocurrency investment trusts—a move that could open Bitcoin and Ethereum exposure to the millions of retail investors who already hold SBI or Rakuten brokerage accounts, without requiring a separate exchange signup or wallet.
SBI Securities will distribute funds built by group company SBI Global Asset Management, covering both ETFs and investment trusts tied to liquid assets such as Bitcoin and Ethereum. Rakuten Securities is developing its own products through affiliate Rakuten Investment Management, designed for direct trading through its smartphone app. Both groups intend to manage the full chain from product design to distribution internally, according to a Nikkei Asia report.
The launches would represent the most significant expansion of regulated retail crypto access in Japan since the country first recognized Bitcoin as legal property — and they are not happening in isolation. Of 18 major Japanese securities firms surveyed by Nikkei, 11 said they are considering launching crypto investment trusts once the regulatory framework is in place.
Brokerage Accounts, Not Exchange Accounts
The structural significance is in the distribution channel, not the underlying asset. Today, buying crypto in Japan typically requires opening a dedicated exchange account — a process that involves separate KYC, unfamiliar interfaces, and the operational burden of managing private keys or custodial wallet security.
Investment trusts change that equation entirely. Japanese investors could add Bitcoin or Ethereum exposure through the same brokerage accounts they already use for stocks, bonds, and mutual funds. The experience would be closer to buying a fund than trading on a crypto exchange — a difference that matters enormously for the millions of mainstream retail investors who have avoided crypto specifically because of the operational complexity.
SBI Securities alone has approximately 13 million brokerage accounts. Rakuten Securities has roughly 11 million. Combined, the two platforms could give over 24 million existing account holders frictionless access to crypto investment products.
SBI’s Ambitions: ¥5 Trillion in Three Years
SBI’s ambitions are the most aggressive of any Japanese wealth manager. SBI Global Asset Management is targeting approximately ¥5 trillion ($32 billion) in assets within three years of product launch—a figure that would make it one of the largest crypto fund managers globally if achieved.
SBI has also outlined plans for a dual Bitcoin-and-XRP ETF and a gold-crypto hybrid product, both pending regulatory approval. The dual BTC-XRP product reflects SBI’s longstanding relationship with Ripple — SBI Holdings has been a major XRP supporter and operates SBI VC Trade, a licensed crypto exchange in Japan.
SBI’s broader digital asset strategy has accelerated throughout 2026. In March, SBI backed Startale’s Layer 2 and tokenization push with $50 million, supporting the Strium blockchain platform for tokenized securities and the JPYSC trust bank-backed yen stablecoin. In May, SBI commenced talks to acquire Japanese crypto exchange Bitbank, aiming to consolidate its domestic digital asset operations into a vertically integrated empire spanning exchange, custody, asset management, and distribution.
Rakuten’s Mobile-First Approach
Rakuten Securities is taking a slightly different path, emphasizing mobile-first product design through Rakuten Investment Management. The company wants customers to trade crypto investment trusts directly inside its smartphone app—matching how retail crypto activity already works in Japan.
Rakuten Group already operates Rakuten Wallet, a licensed crypto trading platform, giving the securities arm existing infrastructure and regulatory relationships. The group’s broader ecosystem—spanning e-commerce, mobile payments, banking, and credit cards—provides a distribution flywheel that could accelerate adoption once products launch.
The Megabroker Pipeline
SBI and Rakuten are the first movers, but the pipeline behind them is deep. Nomura Securities and Daiwa Securities have both disclosed plans to develop crypto investment trusts once the regulatory framework becomes clear. SMBC Group, including SMBC Nikko Securities, has formed a dedicated cross-group task force to assess possible products. Asset Management One, linked to Mizuho Financial Group, has started early research.
The Nikkei survey finding that 11 of 18 major brokerages are considering entry signals that the Japanese financial establishment views crypto investment products not as experimental but as an inevitable product category—the question is timing, not whether.
Nomura’s Swiss-based crypto subsidiary Laser Digital posted Q3 losses tied to market volatility, prompting the firm to scale back trading exposure in February, though it reaffirmed its long-term commitment to the sector. The in-house trust strategy gives Japan’s biggest brokerages a route into crypto that leans on distribution and fees rather than principal risk — a model that may prove more sustainable than direct trading operations.
From Payment Tool to Financial Instrument
The timing is not coincidental. Japan’s regulatory environment has shifted dramatically over the past 12 months, creating the conditions for these products.
In April 2026, Japan’s government approved a bill reclassifying cryptocurrencies as financial instruments under the Financial Instruments and Exchange Act—moving them out of the payment services category and into the same legal framework used for stocks and bonds. The bill bans insider trading, requires mandatory annual disclosures by crypto issuers, and sharply increases penalties for unregistered sales. If passed by the Diet during the current session, the rules take effect in fiscal 2027.
Critically, the government’s 2026 tax reform plan would cut the tax rate on crypto gains from as high as 55% to a flat 20% — matching the rate applied to stocks and investment trusts. This single change could be the most consequential driver of retail adoption, as the punitive tax regime has been a primary deterrent for mainstream Japanese investors.
Japan’s Financial Services Agency is separately working to revise the Investment Trust Act to add crypto to the “specified assets” list, with a target of 2028. The Japan Exchange Group has indicated that the Tokyo Stock Exchange could list crypto ETFs as early as 2027 if legal reforms and tax treatment are finalized—pulling forward an earlier timeline.
The Global Context
Japan’s move follows the playbook established by the U.S., where spot Bitcoin ETFs launched in January 2024 and have since attracted tens of billions in institutional capital. Hong Kong followed with its own Bitcoin and Ethereum spot ETFs. The CLARITY Act, currently heading through the U.S. Senate, would further expand the regulatory framework for digital asset investment products.
A Nomura survey published in April found that nearly 80% of Japanese institutional investors plan to allocate 2–5% of their assets under management to crypto. Industry projections suggest Japan’s crypto ETF market alone could reach approximately ¥1 trillion ($6.5 billion) after regulatory approval, with investment trusts potentially capturing additional demand from retail investors who prefer fund structures over exchange-traded products.
For SBI and Rakuten, the race is to be the first to market with regulated products in a country of 125 million people whose savings rate is among the highest in the developed world — and whose mainstream retail investors have largely been locked out of crypto by operational complexity, punitive taxes, and the absence of familiar investment vehicles.
