On Friday, Nomura Holdings announced its quarterly results, showing record revenues. The only significant negative in the earnings was a ¥10 billion ($65 million) loss outside of its four major divisions. This was attributed to its digital asset business Laser Digital, which was impacted by market movements in October and November 2025. As a result, Nomura CFO Hiroyuki Moriuchi said the company has “tightened control over positions and risk exposure” to limit the impact on short term earnings. However, he also noted that Laser Digital became profitable two years after its 2022 launch and its performance was “solid” in the quarter ending September 2025.
Notably, the ¥10 billion loss in the EMEA region for Nomura may have involved a larger loss at Laser Digital, given that it was likely offset by other profitable items. Nomura did not respond to a request for comment before publication. Laser Digital has three primary divisions: venture investment, asset management and market making. Separately, the company continues its expansion plans, with Laser Digital applying last week to the US Comptroller of the Currency for a national trust charter.
While Nomura did not specify the source of the Laser Digital losses, the timing suggests the notorious flash crash on 10 October 2025 may have played a role, with Bitcoin dropping almost 7%. However, alternative cryptocurrencies were impacted to a far greater degree. According to cryptocurrency data provider AmberData, the flash crash caused altcoins to collapse 20-27%, but at their lowest point some larger altcoins were down almost 70%, including UNI (Uniswap), AVAX (Avalanche) and AAVE. In a previous earnings call six months ago, Nomura revealed that Laser Digital’s market making was not limited to Bitcoin and Ether. Additionally, Bitcoin fell 16% during November 2025, pulling down the rest of the market.
Despite the losses, Nomura emphasized its ongoing commitment to the sector.
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