The race to bring institutional capital into Bitcoin is well underway.

Now the largest investment bank in Japan is joining in.

What’s happening:

• Nomura, the largest investment bank in Japan, has announced a new Bitcoin fund for institutions
• The new fund will provide direct exposure to Bitcoin
• The fund will be managed by Nomura’s digital asset and blockchain venture arm Laser Capital

Why it matters:

• In the United States legacy asset managers are rushing  to get spot Bitcoin ETFs approved by the SEC
• Institutions, endowments, pension funds and other large pools of capital globally have mostly been restricted from being able to participate in Bitcoin
• Bringing more institutional capital into Bitcoin is one of the most important new catalysts on the horizon for future price appreciation and widespread adoption of Bitcoin as its own asset class

Going deeper:

• If Japan follows a similar trend to the United States then this new Bitcoin fund will likely set off a domino effect of other investment banks and asset managers wanting to launch their own
• Japan has recently been changing their attitude towards crypto and even announced a new proposal for certain types of businesses to be able to issue crypto assets instead of equity when raising capital

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