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Japanese bank SMBC to expand into digital asset businesses

written by Bella Palmer
smbc

SMBC has announced it is going to enter the cryptocurrency asset business, taking NFT services and Web3 as its main priority in the field

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 to launch a token business lab to experiment with these new technologies.

SMBC is joining another locally-based banking giant SoftBank, which has invested in several web3 companies through its venture arm, SoftBank Vision Fund 2.

Many traditional banking companies around the world are now considering entering the crypto and digital assets business. SMBC, the Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation, an institution with more than 463 branches and a presence all over the world, has announced it is going to enter the cryptocurrency asset business, taking NFT services and Web3 as its main priority in the field.

Assisting in SMBC’s first steps into Web3 is Hashport. On the company website, Hashport describes itself as ‘a public utility that facilitates the movement of digital assets between networks in a quick, secure, and cost-effective way. Included in Hashport’s suite of services are various tokenisation solutions and listing services, which will be fully utilised in SMBC and Hashport’s upcoming business token lab.

HashPort has three major business divisions.

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 domain. We believe that these efforts will contribute to the promotion of Web3 in Japan.

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.’

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