Yesterday saw the launch of digital asset custody offering Komainu, a joint venture between Nomura, Ledger and CoinShares. Komainu is regulated by the Jersey Financial Services Commission as a custodian and depositary and is targeting institutional investors.
Samsung-backed Ledger is known for its cryptocurrency wallet as well as its institutional custody technology solution Ledger Vault. We believe the Komainu solution is based on Ledger Vault (awaiting confirmation). Ledger recently secured digital asset insurance of up to $150 million in a Lloyd’s policy designed by Marsh.
CoinShares is a cryptocurrency asset manager. One of its solutions, XBTPROVIDER, provides exchange-traded products or trackers of cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin, Ether and XRP.
The CEO of the new venture is also the CEO of CoinShares, Jean-Marie Mognetti.
“What this partnership has highlighted is the need for credible and solid service providers to support industry participants,” siad Mognetti. “Komainu bridges the gap by bringing financial expertise and capabilities for institutional clients to feel confident their assets are in safe hands.”
Meanwhile, Jezri Mohideen, Global Chief Digital Officer, Wholesale at Nomura, said: “Komainu will act as a foundational pillar to Nomura’s digital asset strategy, enabling the firm to further progress with its initiatives across the full digital asset value chain, thereby setting out to become one of the leaders in the institutional digital asset industry.”
In a slightly unorthodox move, CoinShares issued a separate announcement claiming to be the driver behind the new offering by finding the other two partners.
Nomura has extensive blockchain interests. Nomura Holdings has a tokenized asset joint venture with Nomura Research Instituts (NRI), called BOOSTRY. Three months ago, NRI issued its first bonds on the platform.
Nomura is a member of the governance council of Hedera Hashgraph and has invested in several blockchain startups, including Securitize, Quantstamp and LINE’s blockchain unit.
