Crypto custody lures wall street bankers

Providing custody of assets is boring but an essential task in the traditional investing industry. Ensuring the security of customers' stock and bond holdings is an easy task.

However, the almost 2 trillion-dollar crypto market is rife with activity, the services on crypto custody can be as much as ten times more expensive than protecting more conventional assets, such as cash and stocks.

As a result, this new crypto offering is a promising market.

Startups, wall street banks, and other companies are seeking to develop digital assets and into these services. And custody is far from dull.

However, regulatory uncertainties around digital assets have pushed traditional financial businesses in a holding pattern.

On the other hand, crypto-native firms Bitgo and Coinbase global have been among the top service providers so far.

With players like Fireblocks projecting a 30 per cent yearly growth rate, the industry is nonetheless appealing despite being only a 300-million-dollar market at the moment.

Major global custodian banks, including Bny Mellon, state street, and Citigroup have either initiated cryptocurrency custody operations or shown interest in doing so.

Custody concerns have persisted throughout crypto's history, with many early adopters embracing the mantra "Not your keys, not your coins."

Custody firms have helped to lower the risk of theft and hacks. So far, wall street efforts have been full of fits and starts.

Bny announced its digital-asset custody infrastructure in 2022 but is yet to expand the endeavor. In 2023, Nasdaq halted its crypto custody undertakings.

Still, companies are moving ahead with trials, in addition, many plans revolve around safeguarding tokenised assets.