Japanese investment research firm and bitcoin exchange operator Fisco has announced that it will launch a cryptocurrency fund.

Coming after the firm issued a bitcoin bond last year, the new crypto fund will invest more than 300 million yen ($2.66 million) in bitcoin and other digital currencies, according to Nikkei.

The report adds that the fund – which could be launched this month – is being claimed as the first of its kind in Japan.

The venture will look to gain profit from price differentials among local and foreign cryptocurrency exchanges. Fisco said that it will invest its own money in the fund and further raise capital from two fintech firms, aiming for investment returns of approximately 20 percent per year, the report indicates.

The corporate analyst company – which launched a bitcoin exchange in August 2016 and has invested in other exchanges such as TechBureau – issued a three-year test bond in August last year, worth 200 bitcoins at the time.

Masayuki Tashiro, Fisco's chief product officer, told Bloomberg at the time that the issuance could open ways to generate revenue, provided it had government support.

Japanese stocks sign image via Shutterstock

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