Laser Digital Japan, the digital asset subsidiary backed by Nomura Group, has received registration to begin offering domestic liquidity in Japan before expanding into institutional crypto trading.
A list published Friday by Japan’s Financial Services Agency (FSA) showed that Laser Digital was authorized to operate as a crypto asset exchange service provider under the country’s Payment Services Act (PSA). The approval is Japan’s first crypto exchange license in four years.
First approval in four years
The FSA list indicates that Laser Digital is the first platform to receive a crypto exchange license in Japan in four years. The last platform to win FSA authorization was Binance Japan in October 2022.
In a Friday press release, Laser Digital co-founder and CEO Jez Mohideen said Japan’s crypto market is entering a “new phase of maturity.” He said growing interest from institutional investors in the asset class is creating demand for “trusted counterparties and infrastructure.”
Japan shifts the regulatory framework
In July, Japan’s parliament passed revisions classifying crypto assets as financial assets under the Financial Instruments and Exchange Act (FIEA).
The revisions will move oversight of crypto transactions away from the PSA, under which digital assets are currently treated mainly as payment instruments. They also introduce insider trading rules and stronger supervision for crypto businesses. The crypto provisions will take effect on a date set by Cabinet order within one year of the amendments’ promulgation on July 23.
Japanese Finance Minister Satsuki Katayama signaled in January that the government intended to bring crypto under the same umbrella as traditional financial assets, saying the goal was to ensure citizens can “benefit from digital and blockchain-based assets.”