[DigitalToday reporter Jinju Hong] Japanese institutional investors are increasingly viewing cryptocurrencies as a means of portfolio diversification.

CoinDesk reported on April 19 local time that a survey conducted by Tokyo-based Nomura and its cryptocurrency unit Laser Digital found 65 percent of respondents saw crypto as a portfolio diversification asset.

The survey covered more than 500 investment professionals in Japan. It found 31 percent were positive about the outlook for cryptocurrencies over the next year, up from 25 percent in 2024. Negative views declined. The results reflect a trend in which institutional investors are starting to see crypto as a maturing asset class.

Consideration of actual investment is also becoming more concrete. Among respondents considering crypto exposure, 79 percent said they plan to invest within 3 years. Most, however, expected an allocation of about 2 to 5 percent. That suggests the market remains in an early adoption phase rather than a stage of large-scale institutional inflows.

Changes in the regulatory environment are also supporting this trend. Japanese policymakers have continued work over the past year on crypto classification, taxation and investor protection. The survey noted that uncertainty, long seen as a burden by institutional investors, has eased in part as regulation has become clearer in major markets and investment products such as exchange-traded funds (ETFs) and tokenised assets have been approved and expanded.

Areas of interest also extend beyond simple price exposure. More than 60 percent of respondents showed interest in staking, lending, derivatives and tokenised assets. That suggests growing demand for yield strategies and more sophisticated portfolio construction. The survey also confirmed that institutional investors’ discussions are shifting from whether to invest in crypto to how to incorporate it.

Views on stablecoins have also changed. Some 63 percent of respondents saw potential uses in treasury management, cross-border payments and investment in tokenised securities. That suggests they see a broadening of use cases from payment and operational tools within the crypto market to tools for institutional fund management.

Constraints remain. Volatility, counterparty risk and the absence of an established valuation framework were cited as key factors hindering institutional adoption. Regulatory uncertainty is improving, but it has not been fully resolved.

As a result, while the shift in institutional attitudes is clear, actual deployment of capital is likely to occur through limited allocations and a gradual approach. Even so, the survey showed Japanese institutional investors are starting to consider crypto not as a peripheral asset but as a component of a standard portfolio.