Japanese investment bank Nomura is launching a subsidiary to give institutions access to digital assets, according to a report in the Financial Times.

The new unit will have a staff of 100 by the end of 2023, according to the report, and will offer exposure to cryptocurrency, decentralized finance (DeFi) and non-fungible tokens (NFTs).

The bank declined CoinDesk's request for a comment.

Nomura began trading bitcoin futures and options last week on the CME with Cumberland DRW, joining rivals such as Goldman Sachs (GS) and JPMorgan (JPM) in giving their clients access to crypto markets.

Nomura was one of the first banks to explore custody of crypto assets, joining the Komainu custody joint venture alongside fund manager CoinShares and custody specialist Ledger, in June 2020.

The Nomura Research Institute, an economic consulting arm of the bank, launched a crypto-asset index tracking the Japanese cryptocurrency market in 2020.