Nomura explores possible sale of Laser Digital crypto unit

Nomura Holdings is exploring the sale of its crypto business Laser Digital Holdings, after losses at the Zurich-based entity last year pushed the brokerage’s entire European operation into the red.

Japan’s largest securities firm is talking to potential buyers including Marex, which is evaluating the deal, according to people familiar with the matter. No final decision has been made, and Nomura could end up selling it to another party or holding onto the business, said the people, who asked not to be identified because the information is private.

Spokespeople for Nomura and Marex declined to comment.

The talks come after severe crypto market swings caused significant enough losses at Laser to drag Nomura’s European operations to a quarterly loss. Management acknowledged the “considerable volatility” of crypto-related earnings and moved to tighten risk controls. The development was a setback for Nomura’s CEO Kentaro Okuda, who highlighted Laser last year as part of the firm’s efforts to capture “future business opportunities.”

Founded in 2022 and led partly by longtime Nomura veteran Steven Ashley, Laser provides trading and asset-management services to institutional investors, as well as making venture-capital investments in crypto startups. It’s one of a few Nomura offshoots focused on digital assets. Others include Boostry and Komainu, which specialize in tokenizing financial products and custody services, respectively.

Late last year, Laser poached a trio of derivatives traders from Mike Novogratz’s Galaxy Digital, and more recently obtained a license to provide cryptoasset exchange services in Japan. In May, it received conditional approval for a U.S. national trust-bank charter.

Marex offers a suite of digital-asset tools including execution, clearing, financing and structured products. In October, the company expanded its offering with the launch of a new over-the-counter rolling spot crypto product for institutional clients.

The wider digital-assets market has been stuck in a prolonged slump. Bitcoin, the largest token, is today trading below $74,000, more than 40% off its peak. The value of cryptocurrency transactions in Japan, including margin trades, more than halved from a year earlier in the first nine months of this year to ¥17.2 trillion ($108.5 billion), according to data from the Japan Virtual and Crypto assets Exchange Association.

Line Xenesis, the crypto unit of Japanese internet company LY, in which Nomura took a minority stake in 2019, shut its Line Bitmax cryptocurrency exchange in June.

Still, Japan is moving toward allowing exchange-traded funds that invest in cryptocurrencies, with the first products potentially listing as early as next year. That could benefit asset managers that put ETFs together as well as brokerages that distribute them. The government also plans to lower the tax rate on gains from cryptocurrency investments.