BeInCrypto Institutional Research: 15 Digital Asset Custody Providers Behind Crypto Adoption

Digital asset custody is one of the core trust layers behind institutional crypto adoption. Best Custody Provider is an award category within The BeInCrypto Institutional 100, an annual research-driven program recognising institutional digital asset excellence across 26 categories and six pillars.

This category sits in Pillar 2: Capital Markets & Infrastructure. The 15 firms below are its longlist. A shortlist will be named in May 2026, with the winner announced at Proof of Talk in Paris on June 2–3, 2026.

Long list: 15 custody providers across federal charters, NYDFS trust companies, MPC platforms, bank-backed JVs, APAC custodians, and off-exchange settlement networks
Initial pool: More than 30 qualified custodians and digital asset custody platforms screened; 15 advanced to the long list
Scoring: 50% quantitative data · 50% Expert Council
Criteria assessed: Qualified custodian status, assets under custody, institutional client base, audit posture, product depth, jurisdictional reach, settlement innovation, reputation
Data sources: OCC, NYDFS, FCA, FINMA, BaFin, MAS, MiCA-CASP registers, Jersey FSC, audited filings, company disclosures, PitchBook, Tracxn, and Crunchbase

#	Firm	Custody Sub-Segment	HQ	Reach	Top Licensure / Charter	Representative Work
1	Anchorage Digital	Federal-chartered crypto custody	SF / NY / Sioux Falls / Singapore / Porto	$4.2B valuation Backed by a16z, GIC, Goldman Sachs, KKR, Visa, Tether	First federally chartered US crypto bank Atlas Settlement Network is live with institutional integrations	OCC National Trust Bank Charter MiCA via BaFin, VARA, Singapore, Korea
2	Coinbase Custody	US ETF custody provider	Wilmington / SF, USA	Custodian for 8 of 11 spot Bitcoin ETFs 80%+ of US Bitcoin ETF assets routed via Coinbase	NYDFS Limited Purpose Trust Charter Coinbase Custody Trust Company	Primary custodian for IBIT Co-custodian for Morgan Stanley Bitcoin Trust
3	BitGo	Federally chartered public custody	Sioux Falls / Palo Alto, USA	$104B+ AUC Thousands of institutional clients	Custody tech used by TradFi banks Coverage across the US, EU, Switzerland, UAE, Singapore, Australia, Hong Kong	NYSE IPO completed in Jan 2026 First public federally chartered digital asset infrastructure firm
4	Fidelity Digital Assets, NA	Asset manager-operated federal trust	Boston, USA	Custody for FBTC and FETH Backed by Fidelity’s ~$15T+ AUA platform	Acquired TRES Finance and Dynamic Building a custody, wallet, and accounting operating system	OCC charter approved Dec 2025 Plans include stablecoin issuance and staking services
5	BNY	Global custodian with crypto surface	New York, USA	~$55.8T AUC/A Live BTC and ETH custody since 2022	OCC-regulated bank Institutional custody operations	Co-custodian for Morgan Stanley MSBT IBIT cash custodian and administrator
6	Fireblocks	MPC-native institutional platform	New York / Tel Aviv	2,400+ institutional clients $4T+ annual digital asset transfers in 2025	NYDFS BitLicense SOC 2 Type II + ISO 27001	OCC conditional national trust bank charter Conversion from the New York State trust
7	Ripple Custody (Metaco)	Bank custody technology stack	Lausanne / SF	Acquired Tungsten Custody in the UAE Standard Chartered reportedly weighing full takeover	OCC conditional charter FINMA-regulated custody stack	Ripple rebranded Metaco as Ripple Custody Ripple National Trust Bank’s charter was conditionally approved
8	Sygnum	Swiss-licensed crypto bank	Zurich, Switzerland	2,000+ institutional clients $5B+ AUM; unicorn valuation	FINMA banking licence MAS, Liechtenstein, ADGM permissions	Reached unicorn status in Jan 2025 Sygnum Connect and Sygnum Protect live
9	Komainu	TradFi-backed custody JV	St Helier, Jersey	Operations across Jersey, UK, Italy, Singapore, UAE, Japan ~120 staff target	Jersey FSC, UK FCA, UAE VARA Italy OAM and Singapore MAS via Propine	$75M Series B funded in Bitcoin Propine acquisition expanded Singapore custody hub
10	Zodia Custody	Standard Chartered-backed custody	London, UK	~150 staff across 7 offices 75+ digital assets supported	UK FCA, Ireland MiCA-CASP, Lux, ADGM Hong Kong and Japan FSA coverage	Sub-custodian for Clearstream Crypto offering AnchorNote off-exchange settlement launched
11	Crypto Finance Group	Exchange-parent regulated custody	Zurich, Switzerland	Deutsche Börse majority-owned Clearstream institutional distribution	FINMA Switzerland BaFin licences + MiCA-CASP	Aura private wealth platform launched Qualified custodian in the Fireblocks network
12	Hex Trust	APAC custody anchor	Hong Kong	$104M raised APAC and MENA institutional coverage	HK SFC, MAS CMS, ADGM, VARA, DFSA Multiple licence categories	ClearLoop settlement network expanded Komainu was integrated into ClearLoop in 2025
13	Copper	Off-exchange settlement custody	London, UK	200+ institutional clients Multi-billion-dollar assets under custody	Switzerland SO-FIT affiliation Abu Dhabi ADGM licence	~$2B valuation 9+ exchanges on the ClearLoop network
14	Ceffu	Institutional MPC and OES	Lithuania	200+ institutional clients Multi-billion assets under custody	Lithuania MiCA-CASP Multi-jurisdiction sub-custody arrangements	MirrorX off-exchange settlement integrated with KuCoin EU institutional custody status expanded
15	Bakkt Trust	NYDFS-regulated US custody	New York, USA	ICE-origin institutional custody Multi-asset custody platform	NYDFS Limited Purpose Trust Charter BitLicense + 50-state MTLs	Bakkt Warehouse supports institutional custody $125M+ insurance across cold and warm wallets

About This List

The BeInCrypto Institutional 100 — Digital Asset Custody (2026 Long List) identifies custody providers supporting institutional digital asset adoption. The category covers federally chartered crypto banks, NYDFS trust-company custodians, MPC-native platforms, bank-backed custody ventures, APAC-regulated custodians, exchange-parent custody platforms, and off-exchange settlement networks.

Firms primarily focused on stablecoin issuance are evaluated separately under stablecoin infrastructure categories. Parent firms may appear in other categories when their custody product line meets that category’s threshold independently.

Methodology

This category is evaluated under Track A of the BeInCrypto Institutional 100 methodology: 50% based on quantitative metrics and 50% on Expert Council scoring.

Assessment spans seven weighted criteria: regulator-recognized qualified custodian status, assets under custody and institutional client base, regulatory and audit posture, product depth, multi-jurisdiction reach, settlement and capital-efficiency innovation, and reputation.

Data was verified using OCC national trust bank charter approvals, NYDFS BitLicense and trust-company registers, FCA, FINMA, BaFin, MAS, MiCA-CASP authorizations, Jersey FSC records, audited filings, company disclosures, partnership announcements, and private-market sources, including PitchBook, Tracxn, and Crunchbase. Figures reflect the most recent available data at the time of publication.

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