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Japan just got its first new crypto exchange registration in four years. Laser Digital Japan, the local arm of Nomura Group’s digital assets subsidiary, cleared registration under Japan’s Payment Services Act — and Shiba Inu is on the opening lineup.
The six tokens set to trade on the platform are Bitcoin, Ethereum, XRP, Bitcoin Cash, Litecoin, and Shiba Inu. That’s it, at least for now. No launch date confirmed, no full scope of services laid out yet. But the list itself says a lot. Shiba Inu sitting alongside Bitcoin and Ethereum on a Nomura-backed institutional venue isn’t a small thing for a token that started as an internet meme.
Four Years, No New Registrations — Until Now
Japan froze new crypto exchange approvals back in 2022. The country spent that stretch pushing through major regulatory reforms, including new rules around stablecoins and tighter oversight of digital asset operators generally. Institutional interest in crypto kept growing across Asia during that same stretch, but Japan’s regulator wasn’t exactly handing out new licenses.
Laser Digital Japan breaking that four-year drought is kind of a big deal on its own. And the fact that it’s Nomura’s subsidiary doing it makes the story even harder to ignore. Nomura isn’t a crypto-native firm. It’s one of Japan’s largest and most established financial groups, and its digital assets arm getting the green light to operate as a crypto exchange service provider signals something about where Japanese institutional finance is heading.
The plan, at least initially, is to boost liquidity for local Virtual Asset Service Providers — VASPs, in the shorthand. After that, Laser Digital wants to open up trading opportunities for institutional investors more broadly. Specific timelines on when that second phase kicks in aren’t clear yet.
Shiba Inu’s Climb Through Japan’s Regulatory Framework
Shiba Inu’s path to Laser Digital’s launch list didn’t come out of nowhere. Back in November 2025, SHIB got added to the Japan Virtual and Crypto Assets Exchange Association’s regulatory “Green List.” That designation matters — it’s basically the JVCEA saying a token meets the criteria for listing on regulated Japanese exchanges. Without it, getting onto a registered platform is basically impossible.
Then in April, Rakuten Wallet listed SHIB. Rakuten is one of Japan’s bigger crypto exchanges, and the listing let users trade SHIB against the yen and even convert Rakuten Points into the token. That was a meaningful step toward mainstream retail access.
So by the time Laser Digital Japan announced its initial token lineup, SHIB had already cleared two significant hurdles in the Japanese market. The Nomura-backed listing is the third, and probably the most institutionally visible one so far.
It’s worth pausing on what that trajectory looks like from the outside. A token that launched in 2020 as a so-called “Dogecoin killer” meme coin is now listed on a Nomura-affiliated exchange alongside Bitcoin and Ethereum, having passed through Japan’s formal regulatory vetting process. That’s a pretty different story than where SHIB stood a few years ago.
What Laser Digital’s Launch Means for the Market
Stablecoin adoption and broader digital asset integration across Asia have moved fast in recent years, and Japan has been working to keep its regulatory framework ahead of the curve rather than scrambling to catch up. The Payment Services Act registration that Laser Digital Japan just cleared is part of that framework — it’s not a light-touch process.
For Shiba Inu specifically, the Laser Digital listing probably matters most in terms of institutional visibility. Retail traders in Japan already had access through Rakuten Wallet. But institutional investors — the kind Laser Digital is explicitly targeting — tend to care a lot about which platforms carry an asset and what regulatory status those platforms hold. Being on a Nomura-backed, freshly registered exchange puts SHIB in a different category than it occupied even twelve months ago.
Whether that translates into meaningful trading volume or price impact is unclear. Laser Digital hasn’t published launch specifics, and the full scope of what it plans to offer institutional clients is still pending. The crypto community is watching, but there’s not much concrete to trade on yet beyond the registration and the token list.
And that token list — Bitcoin, Ethereum, XRP, Bitcoin Cash, Litecoin, Shiba Inu — is probably going to stay the subject of conversation for a while. Six tokens. Shiba Inu made the cut.
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Frequently Asked Questions
Which tokens will Laser Digital Japan list when it launches?
Laser Digital Japan’s initial lineup includes Bitcoin, Ethereum, XRP, Bitcoin Cash, Litecoin, and Shiba Inu — six tokens total, per the announcement.
How did Shiba Inu qualify for listing on a Japanese regulated exchange?
SHIB was added to the JVCEA’s regulatory “Green List” in November 2025, which cleared the way for its listing on registered Japanese exchanges, including Rakuten Wallet in April and now Laser Digital Japan.
Why It Matters
The launch of Laser Digital Japan marks a significant step in the Japanese crypto market, which has been relatively stagnant due to regulatory scrutiny since the last exchange registration. Including Shiba Inu among the initial tokens highlights the growing acceptance of meme-based cryptocurrencies in mainstream trading platforms, potentially broadening investor interest and participation. This development could signal a shift towards a more diverse and competitive crypto ecosystem in Japan, as the market begins to reawaken from its regulatory slumber.
