Japan’s National Business Corporate Pension Fund, based in Okayama City, plans to begin investing in cryptocurrencies within fiscal 2026, according to a report cited by CoinPost. The fund has about 1,200 participating small and midsize companies. While corporate investment in cryptocurrencies has already appeared in Japan and abroad, the report described this as a rare move for a domestic pension fund.
According to the report, the fund is expected to allocate about 1% of its total managed assets to cryptocurrencies. The planned route is not a direct purchase of a single token, but an investment in a passive fund managed by a major hedge fund and composed of multiple cryptocurrencies. The allocation is being placed within a broader restructuring of the fund’s currency and asset exposure for fiscal 2026, with currency-risk diversification stated as the central purpose.
A shift from yen and dollar concentration toward a broader currency framework
The fund’s currency composition in fiscal 2025 was 80% yen, 15% dollars and 5% other currencies, the report said. For fiscal 2026, the fund plans to reduce the yen share to 70% and create a new 10% allocation bucket for developed-market currencies. The remaining 5% will be made up of emerging-market currencies, gold and cryptocurrencies.
The main reason given for including cryptocurrencies is the diversification of currency risk. Aiyu Kiguchi, executive director in charge of investment operations at the National Business Corporate Pension Fund, explained why the fund did not increase its dollar exposure by saying that the dollar’s “nature as a key currency may weaken.” The report also stated that Bitcoin has almost no correlation with the dollar index, and is therefore positioned as an asset with resistance to declines in currency value.
Kiguchi said that after about six years of research, the fund judged that “the market has matured,” citing factors such as a thicker layer of investors. The fund is also considering the expansion of future cryptocurrency investment and is conducting research into funds that engage in arbitrage among multiple cryptocurrencies.
The fund’s background, members and financial condition
The National Business Corporate Pension Fund traces its roots to the Okayama Prefecture Machinery and Metal Industry Employees’ Pension Fund, which was established in 1971. It changed to its current name in 2022. The fund is a comprehensive defined-benefit corporate pension fund. Its office is located in the Okayama Chamber of Commerce and Industry Building in Kita Ward, Okayama City, and it operates a retirement allowance savings system for small and midsize companies across Japan, guaranteeing annual interest of 1.2% or more.
The report said the fund has about 1,200 participating companies, including two listed companies, and more than 20,000 members. Its managed assets total about 21.3 billion yen, which places it in the mid-sized range. At the same time, the fund maintains a funding ratio of more than 140% and a real capital ratio of more than 30%. The planned allocation of about 1% to cryptocurrencies is being made within this existing pension-management structure.
Exchange infrastructure, regulation and sales channels are also changing
The article also referred to moves by Osaka Exchange, a unit of Japan Exchange Group, to introduce Bitcoin futures in 2028. Akira Tagaya, president of Osaka Exchange, disclosed the plan in a June 11 interview with the Nikkei. He said, “If a Bitcoin spot ETF is lifted from the ban, futures must be introduced in a matching form.” The statement was presented in connection with the Financial Services Agency’s work on rules for cryptocurrency investment trusts.
In Japan, the domestic lifting of restrictions on Bitcoin spot ETFs requires an amendment to the Order for Enforcement of the Investment Trust Act. The Financial Services Agency is working toward adding cryptocurrencies to the category of “specified assets” that investment trusts can manage around 2028, according to the report. In parallel, a bill to position cryptocurrencies as financial products under the Financial Instruments and Exchange Act was submitted to the Diet in April 2026. On the tax side, the report said a shift is expected from the current comprehensive taxation system to separate self-assessment taxation at a rate of 20%.
Asset managers and distributors are also preparing for the possible framework. Nikkei reported in May that SBI Securities and Rakuten Securities had decided on a policy of selling investment trusts that include cryptocurrencies. Major face-to-face securities firms, including Nomura Securities, Daiwa Securities and SMBC Nikko Securities, have also indicated that they will consider selling such products once the outline of the system is finalized.
Related market infrastructure is still being formed
The report connected the Osaka Exchange plan for 2028 Bitcoin futures with expected hedging demand from institutional investors after ETF approval. It also cited the legislative process for transferring cryptocurrency regulation from the Payment Services Act to the Financial Instruments and Exchange Act. The amendment bill was passed by the House of Representatives plenary session on June 11 and moved to deliberation in the House of Councillors.
The source article further noted that 12 Bitcoin spot ETFs are already operating in the United States and referred to comparisons that include Franklin Templeton’s EZBC. Other linked materials in the original source covered how to buy Bitcoin ETFs, when they may become available in Japan, and rankings of listed companies holding Bitcoin. For the pension fund’s plan itself, the core points remain clear: a corporate pension fund joined by about 1,200 companies intends to allocate roughly 1% of managed assets to cryptocurrencies, and the allocation is designed to support currency diversification beyond the dollar.