SMBC Nikko Securities and Nethermind have signed a memorandum of understanding with Uniswap Labs, Base and the Nyx Foundation to develop a Japan-focused “DeFi Gateway” targeted for completion by mid-2027. The collaboration aims to build a liquidity-provision protocol and proprietary liquidity pools that comply with Japanese laws and regulatory expectations. The work centers on three development pillars: building “agentic vaults” that use verifiable and reproducible AI alongside an intuitive user interface; leveraging Uniswap v4’s Hooks to create an open framework for compliant liquidity pools with built-in AML/CFT and investor protection controls; and developing asset management strategies covering digital assets such as stablecoins and real-world assets (RWA).
Under the MoU, SMBC Nikko will lead communication with regulators and contribute compliance, risk-modeling and portfolio-management expertise, while Nethermind will own technical design, engineering, AI integration and smart-contract security. Uniswap Labs will provide protocol-integration and liquidity-deployment expertise, Nyx Foundation will advise on market-making and hook structures, and Base will support deployment in its Ethereum Layer-2 ecosystem and provide technical feedback around x402. The partners emphasize the project remains in development: no live product has launched and the announcement does not constitute regulatory approval by Japan’s FSA. The MoU does not identify supported tokens, customer eligibility rules, fees or minimum investments. Progress will be shared with regulators as the group refines automated market-making and v4 hook strategies for Japan, building on earlier research that explored smart contracts, AI and zero-knowledge proofs.