The Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation (SMBC), the second largest of the three biggest banks in Japan, has announced it is planning to expand into digital asset businesses, including non-fungible tokens (NFTs) and Web3 platforms. The company will partner with Hashport, a group that offers tokenization and listing services in Japan, to launch a token business lab to experiment with these new technologies.
The second largest Japanese bank to introduce Token and NFT services
Many traditional banking firms around the world are now considering getting into the crypto and digital asset business. SMBC, the Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation, an institution with more than 463 branches and worldwide presence, has announced that it will enter the cryptocurrency asset business, taking NFT and Web3 services as its main priority in the field.
To achieve this goal, SMBC has partnered with Hashport, a company that specializes in offering tokenization solutions and listing services. The press release indicates that SMBC’s business knowledge and Hashport’s Web3 technical solutions will allow the joint venture to build a service platform. It states:
We aim to build an ecosystem involving many players in the NFT field. We believe that these efforts will help promote Web3 in Japan.
Business Token Lab
The result of the collaboration will be the establishment of a business token lab, that will “engage in surveys, research, and demonstration experiments related to the promotion of the token business.”
This also coincides with the long-term goal of the company, which is to encourage the spread of token trading in Japan and also to establish a division to offer digital custody services. However, the services that SMBC aims to offer go beyond these. The joint venture said the move was to provide “marketing support and advisory services to clients considering token business, including issuing NFTs.”
The SMBC Group is also considering issuing its own token business in the future, taking advantage of its international presence and its large established userbase. Other Japanese companies have also launched initiatives in this sector, including Rakuten, an online retail company that launched its own NFT marketplace in February. In May, a subsidiary of the group also announced it would partner with Bitbank, a Japanese crypto exchange, to offer cryptocurrency custody services for institutions.
