Nomura Holdings and its digital asset subsidiary Laser Digital have published their 2026 Institutional Investor Survey on Digital Asset Investment Trends, revealing a measurable shift in how Japanese institutional investors view crypto assets.
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The survey, released on April 16, captures responses from 518 investment professionals across institutional investors, family offices, and public-interest organizations in Japan.
The findings point to growing confidence in digital assets as a legitimate portfolio component, with sentiment improving across nearly every metric compared to the previous survey conducted in June 2024.
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Positive Sentiment on the Rise
31% of respondents described their outlook on crypto assets over the next year as positive — up 6 percentage points from 25% in the 2024 survey. At the same time, the share of respondents holding a negative view fell to 18%, down 5 points from 23%. The remaining 51% maintained a neutral stance.
The survey also found a strong correlation between knowledge and optimism: 58% of respondents who self-identified as having high crypto knowledge held a positive view, suggesting that deeper familiarity with the asset class tends to improve perception.
Diversification Remains the Top Driver
65% of respondents said they view crypto assets as an opportunity to diversify their portfolios alongside traditional holdings like cash, stocks, bonds, and commodities — up 3 percentage points from 62% in 2024.
Diversification was cited as the primary reason for planned crypto investment, with respondents also highlighting crypto's low correlation with other asset classes.
Among those considering investing in crypto over the next three years, 79% said they have concrete plans to invest. Of these, 60% expect to allocate between 2% and 5% of their total portfolio to crypto assets.
Notably, 55% of prospective investors intend to begin allocating either immediately or within the next year.
Demand for Income-Generating Digital Asset Products
The survey revealed broad interest in a range of digital asset products beyond simple spot exposure. More than 60% of respondents expressed interest in the following areas:
Staking/Mining — 66%
Lending/Collateralized loans — 65%
Tokenized assets — 65%
Derivatives — 63%
These results reflect growing institutional demand for income-generating and asset-utilization strategies within the digital asset space, rather than passive buy-and-hold approaches.
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Stablecoins Gaining Institutional Traction
63% of respondents identified potential use cases for stablecoins, spanning treasury management, cross-border payments and FX transactions, crypto asset investment, and investment in tokenized securities.
Across JPY, USD, and EUR denominations, stablecoins issued by major financial institutions received the highest level of trust from survey participants.
Barriers Persist, but the Focus Is Shifting
The survey acknowledged that institutional barriers to crypto investment remain. Respondents flagged several key challenges:
Lack of established frameworks for fundamental analysis
Counterparty risks including default, fraud, and asset loss
High volatility
Regulatory uncertainty
However, the report noted that concerns are shifting from existential skepticism to practical implementation issues.
Factors accelerating adoption include the development of diverse investment products, improvements in risk management practices, regulatory reforms, and increased participation by both financial and non-financial players.
Japan's Evolving Regulatory Landscape
The survey was conducted between December 16, 2025, and January 29, 2026 — a period during which Japan's regulatory environment for digital assets was actively evolving.
The Financial System Council's Working Group on Crypto-asset Systems had been advancing discussions toward the end of 2025, including proposed amendments to both the Payment Services Act and the Financial Instruments and Exchange Act.
Key regulatory developments include clearer rules for security tokens, the regulation of stablecoins under the Payment Services Act, and the lifting of restrictions on limited partnership (LPS) acquisition and holding of cryptocurrencies — opening the door for expanded token-based investment in Web3 startups.
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What This Means for the Market
The 2026 survey paints a picture of a Japanese institutional investor base that is increasingly comfortable with digital assets and actively planning allocations.
With 79% of interested investors signaling concrete investment plans and more than 60% expressing interest in advanced products like staking, lending, and tokenized assets, the data suggests that Japan's institutional crypto market is moving from exploration to execution.
To ensure objectivity, the survey was conducted and analyzed by Rakuten Insight, Inc., an independent research firm. Respondents included banks, trust banks, life and non-life insurance companies, pension funds, brokerage firms, asset managers, hedge funds, sovereign wealth funds, and family offices — some managing over ¥10 trillion in total assets.
