On Wednesday, the Japanese financial holding company and a key member of the Nomura Group, a crypto-focused venture capital unit called Laser Digital Holdings announced the launch of the company. Nomura’s move follows a number of financial giants entering the cryptocurrency industry this year.
Nomura will introduce Laser Digital Holdings
Investment banking giant Nomura Holdings from Japan is stepping into the world of crypto assets, and in the coming months the new venture will reveal a slew of “new services and product lines.” Nomura is one of Japan’s largest investment banks and one of its oldest. The investment firm was founded 97 years ago in Osaka in 1925 as Nomura Securities Co.
The new Laser Digital Holdings is a Swiss incorporated holding company that aims to establish three vertical products: secondary trading, venture capital and investor products. The new company will be led by Jez Mohideen as CEO and Steven Ashley as Chairman. According to Nomura’s press releaseSwitzerland was chosen because of the country’s established “strong regulatory regime.”
“Being at the forefront of digital innovation is a key priority for Nomura,” said Kentaro Okuda, president and CEO of Nomura Securities Co. To this end, along with the diversification of our business, we announced earlier this year the establishment of a new subsidiary focused on digital assets.”
Nomura’s latest offering follows Nasdaq’s new crypto custodian venture announced on Tuesday. Additionally, prior to Nomura and Nasdaq’s announcement, Fidelity Digital Assets, Citadel Securities, and Charles Schwab Corp. announced a joint effort with plans to launch a crypto exchange to serve both retail and institutional customers. The three financial firms are calling the exchangeEDX Markets (EDXM). In addition, Jamil Nazarali, a former Citadel Securities executive, has been named CEO of the trading platform.
Japanese financial giant Nomura Securities detailed Wednesday that the first product Laser Digital plans to drop is a venture capital (VC) unit called Laser Venture Capital.” (The new unit) will invest in companies in the digital ecosystem, focusing on decentralized finance (defi), centralized finance (cefi), web3, and blockchain infrastructure,” Nomura’s press release concluded.
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