Regulations
By Steven Anderson
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SBI Holdings Moves on Digital Assets. SBI Holdings isn't new to crypto. The firm has been an active player in the digital asset space…
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Rakuten's Fintech Push Into Crypto Trusts. Rakuten's angle is a bit different. The company is best known for e-commerce and its sprawling…
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What the Regulatory Shift Actually Means. Japan's decision to bring crypto under the Financial Instruments and Exchange Act isn't just…
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Japan's two financial heavyweights are moving fast. SBI Holdings and Rakuten Group are both building their own cryptocurrency investment trusts, pushed into action by a…
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Last month, Japan's cabinet approved legislation that reclassifies crypto assets under the Financial Instruments and Exchange Act. That's a pretty big deal.
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SBI Holdings isn't new to crypto. The firm has been an active player in the digital asset space for years, building positions across exchanges, blockchain investments, and…
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That's a real gap in the market. A lot of retail investors are curious about crypto but won't touch it if it means setting up a self-custody wallet.
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And it's not a small bet. Developing an in-house product means SBI takes on the compliance burden directly, rather than partnering with an external crypto service provider.
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Rakuten's angle is a bit different. The company is best known for e-commerce and its sprawling fintech ecosystem — Rakuten Pay, Rakuten Bank, Rakuten Securities.
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The company plans to use its technology infrastructure to handle the digital asset management side — security, custody, transaction processing.
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Read also: $BTC and $ETH Trusts Hit Japan as SBI and Rakuten Skip the Crypto Exchange Step
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But the logic is pretty clear. Rakuten has spent years building financial services on top of its e-commerce base. Crypto is the obvious next layer.
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The reclassification is also a signal. Japan has been cautious about crypto since the Mt. Gox collapse and the Coincheck hack rattled confidence in the market years ago.
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That shift matters for investor confidence. A crypto investment trust backed by SBI or Rakuten, sitting under the same legal framework as a stock fund, looks very different to a…
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Related: SBI and Rakuten Push Into Crypto Trusts as 11 Japanese Firms Watch Regulations
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