Nomura’s Laser Digital digital assets business is making a leap past US partnerships and investments to setting up a US trust bank that will directly provide federally regulated custody and spot trading services to institutions.
Nomura’s Laser Digital Seeks Direct Path to US Customers With Trust Bank License
28 January 2026 - 09:57 CET
By Sandmark staff
Laser Digital Americas Group Holdings Inc. filed a de novo application to the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) to form Laser Digital National Trust Bank (LDNTB), which would focus on digital assets, according to a statement on 27 Jan.
The move positions the Japanese banking giant as a first mover overseas as its home market struggles to modernize its capital structures.
Beefing up institutional appeal
LDNTB seeks to offer custody of digital assets, spot trading of crypto and fiat currencies and staking of eligible custodied digital assets.
The announcement from the arm of Nomura, the largest independent securities firm and wealth manager in Japan, came just days after the launch of the first natively tokenized Bitcoin yield vehicle designed for institutional holders, the Bitcoin Diversified Yield Fund.
Targeting a net return of 5% above spot Bitcoin performance, the product seeks to solve the "dead capital" problem for institutions by harvesting yield from market-neutral arbitrage, lending and options strategies.
Headstart with federal framework
The move by Laser Digital gives it a clear runway to expand its digital asset operations in the US, and gives it a headstart compared with Japanese rivals, which might have to seek cumbersome state-by-state licensing for their US operations. LDNTB has no plans to trade securities or to apply for permission to offer depository banking services, the announcement said.
It is likely the first digital assets Japanese firm to apply for a US trust bank charter, and joins five others US firms, which in December were granted conditional approval for national trust bank status by the OCC.
The addition of digital asset firms Fidelity Digital Assets, Circle, Ripple, Paxos and BitGo to the banking club has lent further legitimacy to the crypto sector as it transitions from fringe status to full integration with traditional financial systems.
Laser Digital said the license application took it beyond infrastructure building, with institutional digital asset markets "entering a new phase defined by scale, regulation, and durability," said Steve Ashley, Chairman & Co-founder of Laser Digital, and proposed Chairman of LDNTB.
US deal spree
In 2023, Laser Digital acquired US-based Elysium, a post-trade solutions provider for the over-the-counter FX industry, which targeted the development of a cross-asset post-trade system for institutional digital asset investors.
The firm has also integrated with other US companies to offer institutional-grade liquidity for digital assets and market surveillance.
Obtaining a national trust bank charter will provide "a clear, federally overseen model that aligns closely with how institutions already manage custody, trading, and fiduciary risk," said Purvi Maniar, Chief Legal Officer, Laser Digital, and proposed President of LDNTB.
Nomura, which has total assets of approximately $408bn, is one of Japan’s megabanks seeking global growth as the pace of financial reform in Japan stagnates. The latest setback was the reported delay in the listing of spot crypto Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs) to 2028.
Nomura along with SBI Holdings, the biggest online brokerage, are set to lead the creation of Japan’s first crypto ETFs.
