Nomura Survey: 79% of Japanese Investors Considering Crypto Plan to Invest

In a new report Nomura Holdings besides Laser Digital present results from their 2026 Institutional Investor Survey on Digital Asset Investment Trends. On this document data shows that more institutions are interested in digital assets than in previous years.

To collect this data, researchers questioned 518 professionals between December 2025 & January 2026 - those individuals work for institutional investors, family offices and public organizations in Japan.

Sentiment improves and adoption outlook strengthens

By measuring market sentiment toward crypto assets, the report shows that views are more positive than they were in the last survey.

Diversification drives demand

For many investors, crypto assets are useful because they spread risk across different types of investments. 65% of those who answered the survey say they use the assets for this reason.If investors are planning to enter the market

And for most of those people, the expected size of their investment is between 2 % and 5 % of their total assets.

Expanding use cases and products

With more people entering the market, interest is high for specific products like staking, lending, derivatives and tokenized assets. In each of the areas, over 60 % of individuals say they are interested because they want to generate income and use their assets in more ways.

Stablecoins are also popular for managing company funds, sending money across borders and investing. There is a high level of trust when large financial institutions back the companies that issue those coins.

Barriers remain

But there are still things that prevent people from investing. When asked about risks, investors describe prices that change quickly and unpredictably, rules that are not clear and the danger that other parties might fail to meet their obligations. There is also no single standard way to calculate what an asset is worth.Due to new products, better ways to manage risk and more progress on laws, the report concludes that more people are using the assets.