One of the largest Japanese financial companies, Nomura Holdings has launched a digital asset custody service for institutional investors in a joint venture with crypto wallet provider Ledger and CoinShares.
The custodian titled Komainu was officially launched this Wednesday while the project has been in development since 2018.
Digital asset custody service for institutions
The companies have been working together for the last couple of years to develop Komainu. Komainu describes itself as the first hybrid custodian service that offers secure custody of the digital assets of institutional clients.
The announcement stated that the project is regulated by the Jersey Financial Services Commission as a custodian and depositary. Komainu provides custody service for a wide selection of digital assets on a Ledger-based platform.
The report revealed that the platform will only provide services for the clients and tokens that satisfy anti-money laundering and provenance requirements.
The team
Komainu will comprise of selected experts from its parent companies while the CEO of CoinShares Jean-Marie Mognetti will serve as Komainu’s CEO. Kenton Farmer will serve as the head of Operations. Farmer has previously worked at Credit Suisse and Hermes Fund Managers.
Mognetti stated that the growth of the crypto industry shows the potential of decentralized finance (DeFi). She added that institutions are searching for credible service providers to support industry participants and Komainu bridges the gap by bringing the capabilities needed for institutions to feel confident about their assets.
The CEO of Ledger, Pascal Gauthier had similar views and noted that investors are looking for both regulatory compliance and asset security when it comes to digital asset custody.
Cryptopolitan Academy: How to Write a Web3 Resume That Lands Interviews - FREE Cheat Sheet