Domestic crypto-asset VC + crypto-fund landscape

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Overview

Within domestic crypto VC, 4 lineages coexist: large-corporate CVCs, independent funds, university-affiliated, and PE-derived. The LP composition is a mix of incumbent financial institutions + operating companies + individual investors. There is much co-investment / collaboration with major overseas players (a16z crypto / Paradigm / Sequoia / Coinbase Ventures / Pantera). Capital supply surged in 2018-2021 年, contracted in the 2022-2023 年 winter, and re-activated in 2024-2026 年 against the backdrop of ETFs, Sony’s Astar takeover, and the enforcement of JPYC regulation.

Independent crypto VCs

• gumi cryptos (2018-) — gumi-affiliated · CTIA-LP · cumulative AUM on the order of 100 億円 · invested in Astar/Oasys/Aave, etc.
• B Cryptos (now BDash Ventures crypto arm) — focused on seed–early stage
• Skyland Ventures crypto fund — concentrated in the Web3 sector
• Hashed Japan — the Japan branch of Korea’s Hashed · pan-Asia LP

Large-corporate CVCs

• SBI Investment + SBI Crypto Investment (SBI HD subsidiary) — strategic partnerships with Ripple / R3 / Sygnum, etc.
• Monex Ventures — Coincheck parent + overseas crypto exposure
• GMO Venture Partners — complements GMO Coin / GMO Trust
• Mitsui & Co. Digital Asset Investment — trading-house commodities + crypto
• NTT Data + NTT DoCoMo Ventures — DCJPY-related investment
• Sony Financial + Sony G — S.BLOX parent · made Astar a subsidiary
• Monex Crypto Asset Inc. — FoF structure

Examples of overseas major LP / investor investment in domestic projects

• Coinbase Ventures — Aerodrome (Base native DEX) · sporadic Japanese web3 projects
• a16z crypto — direct investment in Japanese projects is rare
• Sequoia Capital Japan — indirect exposure via Stripe
• Pantera Capital — some domestic projects
• CoinShares / Ledger — Komainu JV

Domestic project investment hubs

• Astar Network — made a Sony G subsidiary (2024-) · originally gumi cryptos-affiliated
• OASYS — invested in by bitFlyer / SBI / Sega, etc.
• JPYC — 2026-04 Series B 28 億円 (Metaplanet + Sumitomo Life) → jp-exchange-jpyc
• Komainu — joint venture of Nomura HD + CoinShares + Ledger → jp-custody-komainu
• S.BLOX (formerly DeCurret) — Sony G subsidiary → jp-exchange-sblox

Related: jp-vasp-parent-company-map · jp-listed-cex-related-companies-matrix · jp-institutional-custody-three-pillars

Source: Each VC / fund’s official corporate website, project-investment press releases, Nikkei/ITmedia reporting, Crunchbase