Key facts
- Nomura has held talks with potential buyers including Marex Group about Laser Digital, Bloomberg reported.
- Nomura has made no final decision on a sale and could keep the business, per Bloomberg.
- Nomura's European businesses lost 7.4 billion yen ($46.5 million) before tax in the quarter ended September 30, 2026.
- Nomura posted pretax profits in every other reporting region over the same period.
- Nomura did not disclose whether Switzerland-based Laser Digital contributed to the European result.
- Laser Digital Japan won Japan's first new crypto exchange license in four years less than three months before the talks.
Nomura Holdings has held talks with potential buyers, including Marex Group, about a sale of its cryptocurrency subsidiary Laser Digital, Bloomberg reported on November 11, 2026. The Japanese financial services group has not made a final decision and could keep the business, according to the report.
The reported talks follow a pretax loss of 7.4 billion yen ($46.5 million) at Nomura's European businesses in the quarter ended September 30, 2026, their fourth consecutive quarterly loss. Nomura posted pretax profits in every other reporting region over the same period. The company did not disclose whether Laser Digital, which is headquartered in Switzerland, contributed to the European result.
Laser Digital, established in 2022, provides institutional cryptocurrency trading, asset management and venture investment services. Less than three months before the reported talks, Laser Digital Japan secured Japan's first new crypto exchange license in four years, allowing the firm to expand its institutional crypto trading services in the country. The company has also pursued expansion in the United States, receiving preliminary approval from the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency for its proposed national trust bank in May.
On a January earnings call, chief financial officer Hiroyuki Moriuchi said the company would reduce its cryptocurrency trading positions to limit short-term volatility while continuing to expand Laser Digital over the medium to long term. Nomura's investment management division oversaw 152.8 trillion yen ($960 billion) in assets as of September 2026.