Japanese corporate pension fund National Business Corporate Pension Fund plans to use digital assets to diversify currency risks and begin investing in cryptocurrencies during fiscal year 2026.
National Business Corporate Pension Fund, a defined-benefit corporate pension fund representing approximately 1,200 small and medium-sized businesses, will allocate about 1% of its assets under management to cryptocurrencies, according to Nikkei.
The investments will be made through a passive fund managed by a major hedge fund and holding multiple cryptocurrencies. For Japan’s market, this marks one of the first cases in which a corporate pension fund officially incorporated digital assets into its investment strategy.
National Business Corporate Pension Fund manages about ¥21.3 billion (~$145 million) in assets and serves more than 20,000 participants. The fund’s current portfolio allocation consists of 80% yen-denominated assets, 15% U.S. dollar-denominated assets, and 5% in other currencies.
Ayu Kiguchi, Executive Director of Investments at the fund, said the decision was driven by the need to reduce reliance on the U.S. dollar. According to Kiguchi, the dollar’s role as the world’s primary reserve currency could gradually weaken, making further increases in dollar exposure less attractive. The fund also noted that BTC has shown low correlation with the U.S. dollar index, positioning it as a potential hedge against currency risks.
Preparations for entering the cryptocurrency market took about six years. During that period, the fund concluded that the market had matured as institutional participation increased and infrastructure continued to develop. The organization is also considering expanding its cryptocurrency exposure in the future and is evaluating strategies involving arbitrage trading across different digital assets.
As institutional interest in digital assets continues to grow in Japan, the country is advancing its regulatory framework for crypto assets. Authorities are considering bringing cryptocurrencies under the scope of financial instruments legislation and allowing them to be included among assets eligible for investment funds by 2028. At the same time, Japan’s leading brokerage firms, SBI Securities and Rakuten Securities, began developing their own cryptocurrency-based investment funds.
