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This article will review the ten most influential platforms in the crypto custody industry, helping you make informed choices in a complex market.
As the crypto asset market matures, an increasing number of high-net-worth investors are entrusting their crypto assets to third-party institutions to ensure security and compliance with global regulations. Crypto custody services address gaps in security, liquidity, and compliance that high-net-worth investors face in managing crypto assets.
But which custody platforms are trustworthy for high-net-worth investors? What successful use cases can we learn from?
This article, by Portal Labs, will review the ten most influential platforms in the crypto custody industry to help you make informed choices in a complex market.
What is Crypto Custody?
Crypto custody, in simple terms, involves professional institutions safeguarding, managing, and enhancing the value of crypto assets. For high-net-worth investors, it is more than just an asset protection tool—it is a core service that allows them to focus on strategic investments and optimize asset allocation.
Services provided by custody platforms include:
Cold Wallet Storage: Ensuring high asset security.
Compliance Services: Ensuring assets meet international financial regulatory standards.
Liquidity Management: Ensuring assets can be flexibly liquidated when needed.
Tax Optimization: Automatically generating tax reports to reduce tax burdens.
Compared to self-storage with cold wallets, third-party custody offers several advantages:
Security
While cold wallets technically prevent online hacking, third-party custody provides more comprehensive security. Through professional custody institutions, assets are not only stored in cold wallets but also benefit from multi-signature technology and insurance coverage. This way, investors can avoid hacking risks and receive insurance compensation in extreme situations.
Compliance and Transparency
High-net-worth investors often face global compliance requirements. Custody platforms ensure assets comply with various financial regulations through KYC (Know Your Customer) and AML (Anti-Money Laundering) measures. Additionally, regular audit reports and transparent asset management provided by custody platforms enable investors to monitor their asset status at any time, ensuring compliance and transparency.
Liquidity
Third-party custody platforms offer more convenient asset management. Through these platforms, investors can more quickly adjust their portfolios or liquidate assets without worrying about cold wallet accessibility. Custody platforms often collaborate with multiple exchanges and financial institutions to ensure asset liquidity and facilitate rapid execution of trades when needed.
Tax Optimization
Custody platforms typically provide automated tax report generation services, helping investors avoid tax risks and reduce tax burdens. This allows investors to not only ensure asset compliance but also plan tax issues globally, avoiding potential risks from personal management.
Management Burden
For high-net-worth investors, the complexity and risks of managing crypto assets are significant. The 24/7 customer support and account recovery features provided by custody platforms ensure investors can get help at any time, avoiding asset losses due to operational errors or technical issues.
Finally, custody platforms typically support the management of various crypto assets, including Bitcoin, Ethereum, DeFi tokens, and NFTs. This enables high-net-worth investors to manage diversified assets on a single platform, eliminating the need to spread across multiple platforms and improving management efficiency.
Mainstream Crypto Custody Platforms
Now, let’s review the ten most influential crypto custody platforms and their respective advantages and features.
BitGo
Founded: 2013
Service Highlights: BitGo is a leading cold wallet custody platform offering multi-signature and asset insurance services to ensure the highest security for crypto assets.
Service Recipients: BitGo provides custody services to multiple globally renowned funds and crypto exchanges, including Gemini and Coinbase.
Applicable Clients: Primarily serves large institutional investors and high-net-worth investors, especially those requiring high security and compliance.
BitGo has long been favored by global financial institutions and exchanges due to its outstanding security, compliance support, and liquidity management, occupying a significant position in the crypto custody field.
Anchorage
Founded: 2017
Service Highlights: Anchorage is the world’s first compliance-approved crypto custody platform, offering cold storage and compliant custody services.
Service Recipients: Anchorage provides custody services to multiple large asset management firms, financial institutions, and major funds, such as Pantera Capital and BlockFi.
Applicable Clients: Focuses on providing custody services to financial institutions, large asset management firms, and institutional investors, particularly suitable for clients with compliance requirements.
Anchorage, through its innovative technology and compliance certifications, offers secure crypto custody services to institutional investors, gradually becoming one of the most trusted custody platforms in the crypto industry.
Fidelity Digital Assets
Founded: 2018
Service Highlights: Fidelity Digital Assets provides crypto custody services combining traditional financial stability, supporting cold wallet storage and high compliance services.
Service Recipients: Fidelity offers custody services to traditional financial institutions, family offices, and institutional-grade investors, including Fidelity Asset Management and the New York Stock Exchange.
Applicable Clients: Long-term investors, financial institutions, family offices.
As part of the financial giant Fidelity, Fidelity Digital Assets combines the advantages of traditional financial services, becoming the preferred crypto custody platform for institutional investors.
Coinbase Custody
Founded: 2018
Service Highlights: Coinbase Custody provides cold storage and multi-signature services to ensure crypto asset security and offers insurance coverage.
Service Recipients: Coinbase Custody provides custody services to institutional investors, exchanges, and crypto funds, including Pantera Capital and Grayscale.
Applicable Clients: Institutional investors, crypto exchanges, investment funds.
As a subsidiary of Coinbase, Coinbase Custody offers high-security and compliance custody services, widely trusted by global investment funds and exchanges.
Gemini Custody
Founded: 2015
Service Highlights: Gemini Custody offers custody services compliant with New York Financial Services Department (NYDFS) regulations, supporting multi-signature and cold storage technologies.
Service Recipients: Gemini Custody serves crypto funds, large institutions, and financial services companies, such as Galaxy Digital and VanEck.
Applicable Clients: Institutional investors, crypto exchanges, investment funds.
Gemini Custody’s compliance and high security make it one of the most trusted crypto custody platforms globally, especially in the U.S.
Fireblocks
Founded: 2018
Service Highlights: Fireblocks offers industry-leading cold storage and multi-signature technology, focusing on comprehensive asset management services for institutional investors.
Service Recipients: Fireblocks provides custody services to multiple financial institutions and crypto exchanges, including Wellington Management and Revolut.
Applicable Clients: Financial institutions, crypto exchanges, institutional investors.
Fireblocks’ technology combines security with flexibility, providing efficient asset custody and management services for institutional clients.
Trustology
Founded: 2018
Service Highlights: Trustology offers customized crypto custody services for individual and institutional investors, particularly tailored for high-net-worth clients.
Service Recipients: Trustology serves clients including crypto exchanges and family offices, such as Bitfinex.
Applicable Clients: Small and medium-sized investment institutions, high-net-worth individuals.
Trustology is dedicated to providing personalized services for high-net-worth clients with special needs, emerging as a new force in the crypto custody industry.
Ledger Vault
Founded: 2018
Service Highlights: Ledger Vault is the custody platform for Ledger hardware wallets, offering cold wallet storage and multi-signature solutions to ensure asset security.
Service Recipients: Ledger Vault provides custody services to crypto exchanges, financial institutions, and crypto funds.
Applicable Clients: Crypto exchanges, financial institutions, crypto funds.
Ledger Vault, with its hardware security technology and cold storage solutions, has become the preferred platform for multiple crypto exchanges and financial institutions.
Luno
Founded: 2013
Service Highlights: Luno offers crypto custody and trading services, supporting multiple mainstream digital currencies to ensure asset security and liquidity.
Service Recipients: Luno’s clients mainly include international investors and crypto exchanges.
Applicable Clients: International investors, crypto exchanges, small crypto funds.
Luno provides crypto asset services in multiple global markets, particularly with a strong user base in emerging markets.
Bitstamp Custody
Founded: 2011
Service Highlights: Bitstamp Custody offers multi-signature and cold wallet custody services, focusing on providing high-security storage solutions for institutional and large investors.
Service Recipients: Bitstamp Custody provides custody services to institutional investors, large funds, and crypto exchanges, including CoinShares and Xapo.
Applicable Clients: Primarily serves large institutional investors, crypto exchanges, and investment funds, especially those requiring high security and compliance guarantees.
Bitstamp Custody, leveraging Bitstamp’s brand and deep background in the global financial market, brings professional services and high credibility to the crypto custody field. Its custody services are widely favored by institutions and funds, becoming an important choice for institutional-grade investors.
This article will review the ten most influential platforms in the crypto custody industry, helping you make informed choices in a complex market.
As the crypto asset market matures, an increasing number of high-net-worth investors are entrusting their crypto assets to third-party institutions to ensure security and compliance with global regulations. Crypto custody services address gaps in security, liquidity, and compliance that high-net-worth investors face in managing crypto assets.
But which custody platforms are trustworthy for high-net-worth investors? What successful use cases can we learn from?
This article, by Portal Labs, will review the ten most influential platforms in the crypto custody industry to help you make informed choices in a complex market.
What is Crypto Custody?
Crypto custody, in simple terms, involves professional institutions safeguarding, managing, and enhancing the value of crypto assets. For high-net-worth investors, it is more than just an asset protection tool—it is a core service that allows them to focus on strategic investments and optimize asset allocation.
Services provided by custody platforms include:
Cold Wallet Storage: Ensuring high asset security.
Compliance Services: Ensuring assets meet international financial regulatory standards.
Liquidity Management: Ensuring assets can be flexibly liquidated when needed.
Tax Optimization: Automatically generating tax reports to reduce tax burdens.
Compared to self-storage with cold wallets, third-party custody offers several advantages:
Security
While cold wallets technically prevent online hacking, third-party custody provides more comprehensive security. Through professional custody institutions, assets are not only stored in cold wallets but also benefit from multi-signature technology and insurance coverage. This way, investors can avoid hacking risks and receive insurance compensation in extreme situations.
Compliance and Transparency
High-net-worth investors often face global compliance requirements. Custody platforms ensure assets comply with various financial regulations through KYC (Know Your Customer) and AML (Anti-Money Laundering) measures. Additionally, regular audit reports and transparent asset management provided by custody platforms enable investors to monitor their asset status at any time, ensuring compliance and transparency.
Liquidity
Third-party custody platforms offer more convenient asset management. Through these platforms, investors can more quickly adjust their portfolios or liquidate assets without worrying about cold wallet accessibility. Custody platforms often collaborate with multiple exchanges and financial institutions to ensure asset liquidity and facilitate rapid execution of trades when needed.
Tax Optimization
Custody platforms typically provide automated tax report generation services, helping investors avoid tax risks and reduce tax burdens. This allows investors to not only ensure asset compliance but also plan tax issues globally, avoiding potential risks from personal management.
Management Burden
For high-net-worth investors, the complexity and risks of managing crypto assets are significant. The 24/7 customer support and account recovery features provided by custody platforms ensure investors can get help at any time, avoiding asset losses due to operational errors or technical issues.
Finally, custody platforms typically support the management of various crypto assets, including Bitcoin, Ethereum, DeFi tokens, and NFTs. This enables high-net-worth investors to manage diversified assets on a single platform, eliminating the need to spread across multiple platforms and improving management efficiency.
Mainstream Crypto Custody Platforms
Now, let’s review the ten most influential crypto custody platforms and their respective advantages and features.
BitGo
Founded: 2013
Service Highlights: BitGo is a leading cold wallet custody platform offering multi-signature and asset insurance services to ensure the highest security for crypto assets.
Service Recipients: BitGo provides custody services to multiple globally renowned funds and crypto exchanges, including Gemini and Coinbase.
Applicable Clients: Primarily serves large institutional investors and high-net-worth investors, especially those requiring high security and compliance.
BitGo has long been favored by global financial institutions and exchanges due to its outstanding security, compliance support, and liquidity management, occupying a significant position in the crypto custody field.
Anchorage
Founded: 2017
Service Highlights: Anchorage is the world’s first compliance-approved crypto custody platform, offering cold storage and compliant custody services.
Service Recipients: Anchorage provides custody services to multiple large asset management firms, financial institutions, and major funds, such as Pantera Capital and BlockFi.
Applicable Clients: Focuses on providing custody services to financial institutions, large asset management firms, and institutional investors, particularly suitable for clients with compliance requirements.
Anchorage, through its innovative technology and compliance certifications, offers secure crypto custody services to institutional investors, gradually becoming one of the most trusted custody platforms in the crypto industry.
Fidelity Digital Assets
Founded: 2018
Service Highlights: Fidelity Digital Assets provides crypto custody services combining traditional financial stability, supporting cold wallet storage and high compliance services.
Service Recipients: Fidelity offers custody services to traditional financial institutions, family offices, and institutional-grade investors, including Fidelity Asset Management and the New York Stock Exchange.
Applicable Clients: Long-term investors, financial institutions, family offices.
As part of the financial giant Fidelity, Fidelity Digital Assets combines the advantages of traditional financial services, becoming the preferred crypto custody platform for institutional investors.
Coinbase Custody
Founded: 2018
Service Highlights: Coinbase Custody provides cold storage and multi-signature services to ensure crypto asset security and offers insurance coverage.
Service Recipients: Coinbase Custody provides custody services to institutional investors, exchanges, and crypto funds, including Pantera Capital and Grayscale.
Applicable Clients: Institutional investors, crypto exchanges, investment funds.
As a subsidiary of Coinbase, Coinbase Custody offers high-security and compliance custody services, widely trusted by global investment funds and exchanges.
Gemini Custody
Founded: 2015
Service Highlights: Gemini Custody offers custody services compliant with New York Financial Services Department (NYDFS) regulations, supporting multi-signature and cold storage technologies.
Service Recipients: Gemini Custody serves crypto funds, large institutions, and financial services companies, such as Galaxy Digital and VanEck.
Applicable Clients: Institutional investors, crypto exchanges, investment funds.
Gemini Custody’s compliance and high security make it one of the most trusted crypto custody platforms globally, especially in the U.S.
Fireblocks
Founded: 2018
Service Highlights: Fireblocks offers industry-leading cold storage and multi-signature technology, focusing on comprehensive asset management services for institutional investors.
Service Recipients: Fireblocks provides custody services to multiple financial institutions and crypto exchanges, including Wellington Management and Revolut.
Applicable Clients: Financial institutions, crypto exchanges, institutional investors.
Fireblocks’ technology combines security with flexibility, providing efficient asset custody and management services for institutional clients.
Trustology
Founded: 2018
Service Highlights: Trustology offers customized crypto custody services for individual and institutional investors, particularly tailored for high-net-worth clients.
Service Recipients: Trustology serves clients including crypto exchanges and family offices, such as Bitfinex.
Applicable Clients: Small and medium-sized investment institutions, high-net-worth individuals.
Trustology is dedicated to providing personalized services for high-net-worth clients with special needs, emerging as a new force in the crypto custody industry.
Ledger Vault
Founded: 2018
Service Highlights: Ledger Vault is the custody platform for Ledger hardware wallets, offering cold wallet storage and multi-signature solutions to ensure asset security.
Service Recipients: Ledger Vault provides custody services to crypto exchanges, financial institutions, and crypto funds.
Applicable Clients: Crypto exchanges, financial institutions, crypto funds.
Ledger Vault, with its hardware security technology and cold storage solutions, has become the preferred platform for multiple crypto exchanges and financial institutions.
Luno
Founded: 2013
Service Highlights: Luno offers crypto custody and trading services, supporting multiple mainstream digital currencies to ensure asset security and liquidity.
Service Recipients: Luno’s clients mainly include international investors and crypto exchanges.
Applicable Clients: International investors, crypto exchanges, small crypto funds.
Luno provides crypto asset services in multiple global markets, particularly with a strong user base in emerging markets.
Bitstamp Custody
Founded: 2011
Service Highlights: Bitstamp Custody offers multi-signature and cold wallet custody services, focusing on providing high-security storage solutions for institutional and large investors.
Service Recipients: Bitstamp Custody provides custody services to institutional investors, large funds, and crypto exchanges, including CoinShares and Xapo.
Applicable Clients: Primarily serves large institutional investors, crypto exchanges, and investment funds, especially those requiring high security and compliance guarantees.
Bitstamp Custody, leveraging Bitstamp’s brand and deep background in the global financial market, brings professional services and high credibility to the crypto custody field. Its custody services are widely favored by institutions and funds, becoming an important choice for institutional-grade investors.
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Richard.M.Lu
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