Japan’s National Corporate Pension Fund is set to invest in bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies in fiscal 2026. It joins a rare club of domestic pension institutions as Japan moves forward with reforms to integrate digital assets into its financial system.
Japanese pension fund moves to add bitcoin and cryptocurrencies to portfolio
For context, the pension fund is owned by more than 1,200 SMEs and more than 20,000 members in Japan. Moreover, with such a large-scale business, it has now decided to invest about 1% of its capital in cryptocurrency-related investments.
The Fund will not purchase cryptocurrencies directly, but instead will have exposure to cryptocurrencies through investing in a wide range of investment vehicles managed by large hedge funds that own many digital assets.
This decision comes in the wake of the fund’s asset allocation plan, which is under reform. In its fiscal 2026 budget, the yen was reduced on the exposure front and allocations to foreign currencies and other assets were increased. Along with gold and fiat currencies, cryptocurrencies are being viewed as another way to diversify the risks associated with traditional currencies.
Ayu Kiguchi, the fund’s executive director in charge of investments, said the strategy review was influenced, in part, by concerns about the possibility of the US dollar continuing to dominate the global financial system. He also noted that Bitcoin’s correlation to the dollar index is limited, which is another factor that favors adding it to a portfolio.
Kiguchi added that the fund has also been studying the digital assets space for nearly six years News publisher CoinPost. He said the broadening of the base of institutional participants and investors had helped reinforce the perception that the market was mature enough to be considered by pension managers.
Moreover, the pension fund is also exploring cryptocurrency strategies. These include arbitrage funds that aim to profit from discrepancies between the prices of digital currencies. This step also coincides with Japan Stock Exchange Group is eyeing the listing Discover Bitcoin ETFs after Regulatory Clarity.
The regulatory landscape in the country
This year, there have been proposals to include cryptocurrencies under Japanese securities laws, which were recently introduced. It includes a number of talks about a new tax regime with a potential 20% tax on cryptocurrency gains, down from the current 55%. The House of Representatives recently passed these reforms, which could lead to the emergence of Bitcoin, Ethereum, Ripple, and others Cryptocurrencies are treated like stocks.
Meanwhile, regulators are considering giving permission to investment funds to acquire digital assets. They see this step as a prerequisite for the approval of spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds in Japan.
The market is also maturing, with the Osaka Stock Exchange also indicating that it will begin offering Bitcoin futures trading. However, this offer is contingent on regulatory approval of Bitcoin (BTC) ETFs.
Other major brokerage companies such as Ripple-backed SBI HoldingsRakuten Securities and other leading firms are also preparing to offer cryptocurrency-related investment products when regulations are finalized.
