Nomura plans to launch cryptocurrency unit with 100 staff by next year - FT

Nomura (NYSE:NMR), Japan's largest investment bank, is preparing to launch a subsidiary focused on enabling institutional clients' exposure to the decentralized space, the Financial Times reported Monday, citing people with knowledge on the matter. The new unit will consist of a number of digital asset services with around 100 staff by the end of 2023, the people told the FT. The Japanese brokerage, who held discussions regarding its crypto-related plans for four years, is joining a slew of global lenders that already offer digital asset services to institutional clients, including Goldman Sachs (GS), Bank of New York Mellon (BNY) and Citigroup (C). “If we don’t do this, then it’s going to be more difficult down the line to be competitive,” a Nomura executive said, as quoted by the FT. Nomura's (NMR) move comes as cryptocurrencies like bitcoin (BTC-USD) and ethereum (ETH-USD) swoon in the wake of tighter monetary policy and recession