Nomura, Japanese investment bank, has created a subsidiary to give institutions access to digital assets, according to a report in the Financial Times.
By the end of 2023, the new unit will have a staff of 100, according to the report, and will offer exposure to digital assets, decentralized finance (DeFi) and non-fungible tokens (NFTs).
The bank has declined CoinDesk’s request for a comment.
Nomura joining rivals such as Goldman Sachs (GS) Citigroup, Bank of New York Mellon and JPMorgan (JPM) in giving their clients the opportunity to crypto markets, as they began trading Bitcoin futures and options last week on the CME with Cumberland DRW.
Joining the Komainu custody joint venture alongside fund manager CoinShares and custody specialist Ledger, Nomura was one of the first banks to explore custody of cryptocurrencies in June 2020.
The Nomura Research Institute, an economic consulting arm of the bank, launched a crypto-asset index tracking the Japanese cryptocurrency market in 2020.
Despite the risk linked with digital currencies, Nomura executives said that there is strong interest from institutional clients and will continue to flourish in cryptocurrencies, NFTs and other assets.
Nomura will initially transfer about 15 employees to the new cryptocurrencies subsidiary, which has yet to be given a name but will be headed by Jez Mohideen, Nomura’s current chief digital officer.