Nomura launches crypto index for financial institutions

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Japanese consulting giant Nomura Research Institute (NRI) has launched a tradable cryptocurrency index for financial institutions. The index will draw data from MV Index Solutions and CryptoCompare to offer a unique investment solution for global investors.

NRI, which is the largest management consulting and economic research firm in Japan, partnered on the initiative with Intelligence Unit LLC, a crypto exchange database compiler based in Japan. The index will be known as the NRI/IU Crypto-Asset Index and will mainly target financial institutions and institutional investors.

On its website, the index claims to ‘cover the global crypto markets in USD (ticker: NRIIUU) and JPY (ticker: NRIIUJ) by tracking the largest blue-chip tokens. They are designed for Japanese institutional investors by considering local availability, custody solutions and official closing values in JST.’

Nomura describes the index as the first crypto-asset benchmark for institutional investors in Japan. It will offer its users a reliable reference point for evaluating the performance of their investments. The index will pool its data from crypto-asset index platforms provided by MV Index Solutions GmbH, a VanEck subsidiary that develops benchmark indices and CryptoCompare, a provider of real-time digital asset data.

Akihiro Niimi, the CEO of Intelligence Unit commented, “Strong demand from institutional investors is contributing to the growth of crypto-asset funds, and well-diversified products like index funds are attractive as alternative investments. We will bridge the traditional financial world and the crypto-asset world by providing institutional grade crypto-asset benchmarks, further establishing the status of crypto-assets as alternative investments.”

Just days ago, yet another Asian firm launched a crypto index fund. Singapore-based Stack launched its index fund which it hopes will bring in $750 million in assets under management this year alone, with an ambitious target of $2 billion next year.

Nomura Research Institute has continued to invest in blockchain and crypto. Last year, it launched a joint venture known as BOOSTRY that focuses on the exchange of securities. NRI partnered with Nomura, its parent company and together, the two put in $11 million in initial capital. BOOSTRY aims at streamlining the trading of corporate bonds, an industry that is so capital-intensive that smaller firms are usually locked out.