Japan's National Corporate Pension Fund is considering investing in cryptocurrency to diversify exchange rate risk

June 22: Japan’s National Commercial Business Pension Fund, which is supported by about 1,200 small and medium-sized enterprises based in Okayama City, plans to start investing in cryptocurrencies in fiscal year 2026. While some Japanese companies have previously dabbled in crypto assets, it remains relatively unusual for a domestic pension fund to directly participate in crypto investments. The fund intends to allocate roughly 1% of its total assets to cryptocurrency, via indirect investments in passive funds managed by large hedge funds that hold a range of crypto assets. Regarding asset allocation, its 2025 fiscal year breakdown is 80% in Japanese yen, 15% in U.S. dollars, and 5% in other currencies. For fiscal 2026, the planned adjustments are: lower yen holdings to 70%, add a 10% allocation to developed-market currencies, and assign the remaining 5% to emerging-market currencies, gold, and crypto assets. The core goal of this shift is to diversify exchange rate risk. Ai Tomo Kiguchi, the fund’s executive director, pointed out that the U.S. dollar’s status as the global reserve currency may be weakening—hence the decision to reduce U.S. dollar holdings. He also noted that Bitcoin’s correlation to the U.S. Dollar Index is nearly zero, making it a hedge against currency depreciation and an asset allocation tool to enhance portfolio inflation resistance.