SMBC Nikko Joins Uniswap, Nethermind and Base to Build a Regulated DeFi Gateway for Japan
The planned platform would embed anti-money-laundering and investor-protection rules directly into Uniswap v4 liquidity pools, aiming for a mid-2027 launch while the group stays in ongoing talks with Japan's Financial Services Agency.
TOKYO — SMBC Nikko Securities, the brokerage arm of Japan's Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group, is working with blockchain infrastructure firm Nethermind, Uniswap Labs, Coinbase's Base network, and the Nyx Foundation to build what the group is calling a DeFi Gateway for Japanese investors, with a target completion of mid-2027.
The project's technical approach centers on Uniswap v4's "hooks" architecture, which allows custom logic to be attached directly to a liquidity pool's trading function. The partners say they intend to use that capability to embed anti-money-laundering, counter-terrorist-financing, and investor-protection checks directly into the pools themselves, rather than bolting compliance on as a separate layer — an attempt to make a public, permissionless protocol usable within Japan's regulatory framework for licensed institutions.
The group has described plans for AI-powered vaults and interfaces that would let users deploy capital into stablecoins and tokenized real-world assets through the gateway, though specific products have not been finalized or launched. SMBC Nikko said discussions with Japan's Financial Services Agency are ongoing, meaning the project does not yet have regulatory approval and its mid-2027 timeline is a target rather than a commitment.