Overview
- The National Business Corporate Pension Fund disclosed Sunday that it plans to allocate about 1% of its assets to cryptocurrency in fiscal year 2026.
- The fund manages roughly ¥21.3 billion and the 1% stake equals about ¥213 million, or roughly $1.3–1.4 million, which it will obtain via a passive multi-crypto vehicle run by a major hedge fund rather than by buying tokens directly.
- The move follows almost six years of internal study and is framed as a currency hedge that will reduce yen exposure from roughly 80% to about 70% while adding developed-market currencies, emerging-market currencies, gold, and crypto to the mix.
- Japan’s legislature has recently moved to reclassify many cryptocurrencies under the Financial Instruments and Exchange Act and related tax changes are under discussion, but final parliamentary approval and tax reform remain pending.
- Though small in cash terms, the decision could lower the bar for other conservative, fiduciary investors by showing a custody-light route to crypto exposure and it arrives as banks and asset managers expand institutional crypto products.