In another positive move for Japan’s crypto industry, financial services group SBI Holdings Inc. plans to launch a crypto fund in the country before the end of November, according to a report by Bloomberg.

Fast facts

  • Citing Tomoya Asakura, president of SBI affiliate Morningstar Japan K.K., Bloomberg reported the fund could grow to several hundred million dollars invested Bitcoin, Ethereum, XRP, Bitcoin Cash, Litecoin and possibly others. Predominantly targeting investors who understand the risks of trading cryptocurrencies, the fund may require a minimum investment of roughly US$9,000 to US$27,000.
  • “I want people to hold it together with other assets and experience firsthand how useful it can be for diversifying portfolios,” Asakura told Bloomberg, saying if the fund went well, the firm would like to “move quickly” to start a second one.
  • SBI operates two domestic exchanges, SBI VC Trade and the TaoTao platform, as well as the mining arm SBI Crypto and U.K.-based liquidity provider B2C2. In a consolidated Q2 report across its crypto platforms this year, the firm posted a pre-tax profit of US$41.7 million, a year-on-year increase of 56% over 2020’s Q2 figures.
  • Digital asset trading is beginning to gain traction in Japan despite a strict regulatory approach to cryptocurrency businesses. The Japan Virtual and Crypto Assets Exchange Association announced in March that cryptocurrency deposits for the month reached 1.41 trillion yen, or about US$13 billion, about seven times the amount from March the previous year.