Nomura wants to sell Laser Digital: why the Japanese giant is letting go of its crypto subsidiary

Corridor noise in Tokyo. Nomura is studying the sale of Laser Digital, its crypto subsidiary launched in 2022 in Zurich. Bloomberg released the information Wednesday evening, citing sources close to the matter. The London broker Marex is among the potential buyers and no decision has been made. The country's leading investment bank had nevertheless surveyed the crypto appetite of Japanese institutions in April and is now hesitant to stay at the table.

The reason lies in an income statement line. Laser Digital's losses pushed the group's European activities into the red.

Laser Digital: the losses that weighed down Nomura's Europe

It all starts with the crash of October 10, 2025. That day, more than $19 billion in leveraged positions were liquidated in a few hours, four days after bitcoin hit a record above $126,000. The Laser Digital trading book absorbs the shock. In the quarter ended at the end of December, Nomura's net profit fell 9.7% to $584 million, and management specifically cited its crypto subsidiary among the culprits. The group then tightens the screw on position management to limit fluctuations in its results. The subsidiary was already in trouble since April 2025, when on-chain analysts accused it of having precipitated the collapse of Mantra's OM token, which it has always denied.

Ten months later, the cure was not enough. According to the Bloomberg investigation published on November 11, Nomura is discussing with several potential buyers and Marex is “evaluating an operation”. The bank could also keep the subsidiary. It has already reduced Laser Digital's exposure to market making (the provision of liquidity on order books) while maintaining long positions, including its venture capital investments and seed capital contributions.

Japan, Dubai, United States: a brand new approval and a buyer already equipped

The calendar is surprising. Laser Digital Japan announced on August 21 that it had registered as a crypto-asset exchange service provider with the Kanto Finance Bureau (number 00032). First new entrant in this category in four years. His boss Hideaki Kudo then spoke of “an important step in our roadmap to serve the Japanese market”. Three months later, the promised institutional trading has still not opened.

The rest of the collection is not empty. Laser Digital is regulated by VARA in Dubai, obtained a preliminary agreement from the American banking regulator (OCC) in May for a trust bank and has just launched on November 11 a tokenized vault of loans to Saudi SMEs with ZIG Finance, target of $100 million. On the buyer's side, Marex does not arrive empty-handed. The Nasdaq-listed broker since 2024 already offers execution and clearing on digital assets, and in October it added an over-the-counter crypto spot product that works on Laser's radar.