Japan’s Bitbank to set up a custody firm to facilitate institutional entry to local markets

In partnership with Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings, crypto exchange Bitbank revealed plans to establish JADAT, a crypto-specialized custodian.

In a new development for East Asia, Japanese crypto exchange Bitbank announced a partnership with financial holding company Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings with the goal of establishing Japan Digital Asset Trust (JADAT). 

According to an announcement sent to Cointelegraph on Tuesday, JADAT will be created to offer custodial services along with auditing and wallet insurance. The company is designed to facilitate the entrance of institutional players into the Japanese digital asset market.

Once established, the firm will specialize in custody services for digital asset holdings including cryptocurrency, security tokens on public blockchains, stablecoins and nonfungible-tokens (NFTs).

Bitbank is one of the largest crypto exchanges in Asia, with a monthly trading volume of over $5 billion. On the other hand, Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings is a publicly-trading holding and specialized trust bank group. According to the announcement, the firms will use their expertise to contribute to the development of JADAT.

At the moment, the crypto exchange and the financial holdings firm signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU), where both parties agreed to explore the possibilities of Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings investing in JADAT.

Last week, one of Japan’s largest investment banks called Nomura revealed plans to create a crypto subsidiary outside the country. This follows a recent move from the firm to offer Bitcoin (BTC) derivatives to its clients in Asia. The new subsidiary will be focusing on helping institutions invest their funds in crypto and NFTs.

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Earlier in May, e-commerce platform SBI Motor Japan announced that it’s accepting BTC and XRP (XRP) as methods of payment. According to SBI Holdings, the e-commerce platform exports 5,000 used cars to Africa annually. This means that the African market can purchase cars using crypto from the company.