Smart Money Alpha

Laser Digital, the digital asset arm of Nomura Holdings, has received conditional approval from the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) to establish a federal trust bank in the United States. This marks the first time a subsidiary of a Japanese financial institution has achieved such a milestone. If fully approved, the new entity, Laser Digital National Trust Bank, will operate under U.S. federal supervision. The planned trust bank will focus on providing custody and management services for tokenized, digital, and traditional assets. It will also support the movement of funds between fiat currencies, stablecoins, and cryptocurrencies, enable cross-border payments, and offer collateral management for both crypto and non-crypto transactions. However, it will not function like a traditional bank, as it does not intend to accept deposits or provide lending services. Despite this progress, the approval remains conditional. Laser Digital must still meet specific requirements set by the OCC, particularly minimum capital thresholds and other regulatory conditions, before receiving full authorization to operate. The timeline for full approval will depend on how quickly the company satisfies these obligations. Laser Digital now joins a growing group of crypto and fintech firms that have received similar conditional approvals from the OCC, including Circle, Ripple, BitGo, Paxos, Fidelity Digital Assets, and Crypto.com. Since early 2025, at least 15 digital asset companies have applied for such charters, reflecting strong interest in operating within a regulated U.S. framework. However, this trend has drawn criticism from traditional banking groups such as the Bank Policy Institute, which argues that some crypto firms may not operate as genuine trust institutions and warns that regulators could be blurring the line between traditional banking and digital asset services. Since its spin-off in 2022, Laser Digital has been actively expanding its global regulatory presence. #NomuraOCCTrustBankApproval