A crypto-investment quants company and the research arm of Japan's oldest brokerage firm, Nomura,  yesterday announced a crypto-asset benchmark for institutional investors in Japan. It tracks BitcoinBitcoin, Bitcoin Cash, EthereumEthereum, Litecoin and XRP in US dollars, and the companies involved say it’s the first of its kind in Japan.

The NRI/IU Crypto-Asset Index is a partnership between quants company Intelligence Unit, the Nomura Research Institute, and index provider MV Index Solutions. MVIS worked with crypto data company CryptoCompare to calculate the index.

Demand for digital currency could soar in Japan, says central bank official

The deputy governor of Japan’s central bank said today that it must get ready to issue digital currencies, given the rapidly changing world of global payment and settlement systems. “The speed of technical innovation is very fast. Depending on how things unfold in the world of settlement systems, public demand for CBDCs [central bank digital currencies] could soar in Japan,” said Masayoshi Amamiya at a seminar in Tokyo on Thursday, according to Reuters. “We must be prepared to respond if that ha...

NewsBusiness
2 min read
Robert Stevens

Purpose built for Japanese investors, it uses exchanges and custody solutions best suited for the Japanese yen and the US dollar. All closing values are in Japanese standard time.

Akihiro Niimi, CEO of Intelligence Unit said that the index meets “strong demand” from institutional investors, who are “contributing to the growth of crypto-asset funds, and well-diversified products like index funds are attractive as alternative investments.”

The index uses New Year’s Eve 2015 as its base date. Since then, the value of the index would have increased by 6,468%. The all-time-high of the index reached $22,061, and the all time low was $91.92, according to data provided by MV Index Solutions.

Elsewhere in Asian markets, the Shenzhen Stock Exchange published a blockchain stock index last month. It comprises 50 stocks of all the biggest names in the industry who’ve dipped their toes in crypto, such as Ping An Bank and mining company Wholeasy.

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