A Japanese corporate pension fund plans to allocate to crypto assets starting in fiscal year 2026, a move uncommon in the local retirement sector. Under the current arrangement, this allocation will comprise approximately 1% of total assets and will be managed through a passive multi-asset fund, with the focus not on chasing short-term price fluctuations but on diversifying currency risk.

Management scale approximately 21.3 billion yen

According to CoinPost, citing Nikkei, the National Business Corporate Pension Fund, located in Okayama City, serves approximately 1,200 small and medium-sized enterprises and manages assets of approximately 21.3 billion yen, or about 136 million US dollars.

The report indicates that the fund plans to allocate approximately 1% of its total assets to crypto assets. This exposure will be obtained through a passive product managed by a large hedge fund, which will hold a variety of crypto assets. However, the fund has not yet disclosed the specific tokens or the name of its manager.

The configuration target is currency decentralization

This arrangement was not described as betting on a short-term rise in crypto assets. The report mentioned that the fund prioritizes currency risk diversification. In its fiscal year 2025 asset structure, the Japanese yen accounted for 80%, the US dollar for 15%, and other currencies for 5%.

• Fiscal Year 2025: Japanese Yen 80%, US Dollar 15%
• Fiscal Year 2026: Yen to Decrease to 70%
• Another 5% is planned to be allocated to gold and crypto assets.

By fiscal year 2026, the fund plans to increase its allocation to developed market currencies by 10%. Aiyu Kiguchi, the fund's head of investment, stated that the US dollar may weaken its reserve currency status in the future, therefore the fund has not continued to increase its dollar weighting.

Japan's institutional adjustments provide background.

The report also stated that this assessment was the result of approximately six years of research. The fund believes that the crypto market has matured significantly as the investor base has expanded. In addition to passive allocations, the fund is also researching arbitrage funds spanning multiple crypto assets.

This move comes as Japan pushes forward with regulatory adjustments to crypto assets. The Japanese House of Representatives passed a bill on June 11th to move crypto assets from the Payment Services Act framework to the Financial Instruments and Exchange Act framework. The market is widely watching whether this change will pave a clearer path for compliant crypto ETFs and related derivatives in Japan.

According to CoinPost, the Osaka Exchange is also evaluating plans for Bitcoin futures. If spot Bitcoin ETFs are legalized in Japan, the exchange aims to launch Bitcoin futures in 2028 to meet the hedging needs of institutional investors.

Overall, this mid-sized asset management firm's allocation ratio is still very small, but it sends a clearer signal: among Japanese institutions, some funds have begun to incorporate limited exposure to crypto assets into their currency and portfolio allocation considerations.