Survey: 65% of Japanese Institutions Use Bitcoin for Portfolio Diversification

Nomura's report reveals institutional attitudes towards digital assets in 2026.

The Japanese financial holding company Nomura and its subsidiary Laser Digital released a report on institutional investors’ attitudes towards digital assets in 2026.

The survey included 518 professionals: representatives of family offices, sovereign funds, and large organizations.

Key findings:

• 31% of respondents have a positive outlook on the market’s prospects, up from 25% in 2024;
• the proportion of skeptics decreased from 23% to 18%;
• 65% of those surveyed already use cryptocurrencies for portfolio diversification;
• most investors plan to allocate 2% to 5% of their capital to digital assets over the next three years.

Investors show significant interest in passive income: more than 60% are considering staking, mining, lending, and investments in RWA.

In the stablecoin segment, coins issued by major banks are the most trusted. Investors plan to use them for cross-border transactions and capital management.

The industry’s development in Japan was aided by regulatory updates at the end of 2025. Despite this, barriers remain, including high volatility, custodial risks, and a lack of tools for fundamental analysis.

Nomura analysts noted that investors have moved beyond viewing cryptocurrency as an experiment and are now focusing on practical risk management issues.

Earlier in February, experts at River recorded a record increase in Bitcoin adoption by institutional banks, public companies, and governments.