SMBC Nikko Securities and Nethermind have signed a memorandum of understanding with Uniswap Labs, Base and Nyx Foundation to develop a DeFi Gateway for Japanese investors, targeting completion by mid-2027. The five-party project will develop liquidity-provisioning protocols and custom pools using Uniswap v4 hooks to embed anti-money-laundering, counterterrorism-financing and investor-protection controls around pool activity. SMBC Nikko will lead regulatory discussions, while Nethermind will oversee engineering, AI integration and smart-contract security; Uniswap Labs, Base and Nyx Foundation will contribute protocol, deployment and market-making expertise. Progress will be shared with Japan's Financial Services Agency, although no public product, customer-access model or regulatory approval has been announced.