Shalini Nagarajan

The crypto unit of Nomura — one of Japan’s largest banks — aims to grow its team to 55 over the next three months by capitalizing on talent in the world’s top financial cities.&nbsp;



Laser Digital, <a href="https://cms.blockworks.co/nomura-targets-crypto-venture-space-with-laser-digital/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">established</a> in September, is also seeking to trade crypto itself and launch a dedicated trading platform in the first quarter of 2023. Jez Mohideen, the firm&#8217;s CEO, told Blockworks that the operation will include high-frequency trading, market making and proprietary trading.



Nomura is Japan’s <a href="https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2022/05/17/business/corporate-business/nomura-pretax-income/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">top brokerage</a> and investment bank, managing assets worth $442 billion as of this month. The bank first <a href="https://www.nomuraholdings.com/news/nr/holdings/20220517/20220517.html" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">publicly annou</a><a href="https://www.nomuraholdings.com/news/nr/holdings/20220517/20220517.html">nced</a> its intentions to offer institutional clients the opportunity to trade crypto products in May.



The crypto unit functions somewhat independently of Nomura. It’s focused on deploying its own capital to establish cryptoasset management and venture capital (VC) investment engines.



Laser Digital is looking to boost its headcount across its Swiss headquarters alongside its other initial centers in Dubai and London. In stage two, it will explore setting up in Nomura’s home turf, Japan, and eventually in the US.&nbsp;



<a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/dr-jez-mohideen-b5622522/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Mohideen</a> perceives its VC efforts as the firm’s most mature vertical. Nomura’s crypto journey began over four years ago by incubating and investing in digital asset custodian Komainu.



“The focus will be on investment pre-seed through to Series A in innovative Web3, DeFi, blockchain infrastructure, particularly which accelerates the institutionalization of digital assets,” Mohideen said.



As for Laser Digital’s trading platform, the firm plans to cater to institutional clients, family offices, high-net-worth individuals and hedge funds actively involved in the crypto space.



“As regulation comes through depending on the jurisdiction, then we will open up to a client base,” Mohideen said.&nbsp;



<h3>Nomura was cautious about crypto at first</h3>



Mohideen’s stint at Nomura began in February 2018 when he joined as its chief digital officer, looking after commercially-driven digitization opportunities for the wholesale banking business. 



He holds another role as director at Komainu, of which Nomura is the largest investor. As of Sept. 30, he completely shifted focus to Laser Digital. Currently, the 38-member team includes 17 people who transferred from Nomura’s <a href="https://www.nomuraconnects.com/nomura-in-focus/dealing-with-digital-transformation/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">digital office</a> while the rest come from a mixture of TradFi and crypto institutions.



“The deep skills that we&#8217;ve acquired in the area of quant, electronic-trading platform builds and rigorous risk management skill sets. So that&#8217;s what we hope to bring,” Mohideen said.



<blockquote class="wp-block-quote">“I think that this sort of skill set is invaluable for the institutionalization of digital assets. There&#8217;s no question everybody&#8217;s waiting in the crypto ecosystem for institutions to come in.”</blockquote>



Still, Laser Digital will have its work cut out. Its planned growth comes as the industry eyes recovery following <a href="https://cms.blockworks.co/what-comes-next-for-terra-ecosystem/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Terra’s collapse</a> in May and the ensuing bankruptcy of high-profile crypto lenders <a href="https://cms.blockworks.co/alex-mashinsky-steps-down-as-celsius-ceo/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Celsius</a> and <a href="https://cms.blockworks.co/voyager-to-liquidate-assets-at-auction/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Voyager</a>.



At the same time, broad macro-economic factors such as higher inflation, the Ukraine-Russia war, and energy issues in Eastern Europe are challenging both traditional capital market performance and <a href="https://cms.blockworks.co/bitcoin-mining-consolidation-more-bankruptcies-expected-analysts-say/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">crypto ecosystem participants</a>, leading to high correlation.



Marquee crypto companies such as <a href="https://cms.blockworks.co/coinbase-cut-workforce-ceo-wary-of-potential-recession/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Coinbase</a>, <a href="https://cms.blockworks.co/blockchain-com-ceo-on-crypto-winter-were-now-entering-despair/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Blockchain.com</a> and <a href="https://cms.blockworks.co/opensea-lays-off-20-of-staff/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">OpenSea</a> slashed staff earlier this year in preparation for a prolonged downturn. Digital collectibles startup Dapper Labs and financial services firm Galaxy <a href="https://cms.blockworks.co/latest-in-crypto-hiring-layoffs-pile-up-as-bear-market-crawls-on/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">downsized staff</a> as recently as last week.



With a long-term approach in mind, Laser Digital is currently awaiting regulatory approval in Dubai, alongside a long list of other crypto firms. In any case, Mohideen expressed that the firm isn’t in a hurry to become hugely profitable in the next year or two.



Nomura’s management was cautious about launching a segregated crypto business, Mohideen added, but is now clearly on board.



“For us, it&#8217;s taken a while, a lot of work, and we&#8217;ve got to a point now where the firm is a strong believer. It&#8217;s a project that needs to be done,” Mohideen said.



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Nomura Unit Preparing To Trade Crypto, Boost Staff by 45%

Ben Strack

<div id="highlights-block_632b2e51333b2" class="highlights">
 <ul>
 <li>Laser Digital is set to invest in DeFi, Web3 and blockchain infrastructure companies</li>
 <li>Nomura partnered with CoinShares and Ledger to launch crypto custodian Komainu in 2020</li>
 </ul>
 
</div>



Japan-based financial giant Nomura is looking to expand its digital asset ambitions with a new crypto-focused company that would invest in the space’s innovators, as well as offer trading and other investment products to institutional clients.



Called Laser Digital, the company is set to first concentrate on venture capital — investing in companies that focus on DeFi, centralized finance, Web3 and blockchain infrastructure, the investment bank revealed Wednesday.



The company intends to also focus on secondary trading and investor products as it seeks to launch more services in the coming months.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;



Steven Ashley and Jez Mohideen will be chair and CEO of the new business, respectively. Nomura has incorporated Laser Digital’s holding company in Switzerland.&nbsp;



“Staying at the forefront of digital innovation is a key priority for Nomura,” Nomura CEO Kentaro Okuda said in a statement. “This is why, alongside our efforts to diversify our business, we announced earlier this year that Nomura would be setting up a new subsidiary focused on digital assets.”



Nomura had first revealed plans for the business in May — a month after it formed its digital company as part of a reorganization of its future innovation division.



“The new company will enable us to build an edge in providing institutional clients with access to a wide range of new products and services and contribute meaningfully towards responsible innovation in the digital asset ecosystem,” Ashley said at the time.&nbsp;



Ashley, formerly head of Nomura’s wholesale division, has stepped down to help lead Laser Digital. <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/christopher-willcox-09371b2a/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Christopher Willcox</a>, previously CEO of JPMorgan Asset Management, is set to replace him in that role on Oct. 1, Nomura said in a statement.



Now Laser Digital’s CEO, Mohideen joined Nomura in 2018 as a global chief digital officer. Prior to Nomura, he had led the development of systematic trading capabilities at hedge fund Brevan Howard.&nbsp;



Nomura is not new to the crypto space. It partnered with cryptoasset manager CoinShares and digital asset security company Ledger in 2020 to launch crypto custodian Komainu.



A Nomura spokesperson did not immediately return a request for comment.



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