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BitGo Is Building Its Own Digital Asset Custodian
NEWS
Nikhilesh De
May 25, 2018 at 16:45 UTC | Updated May 25, 2018 at 18:46 UTC
Four months after announcing it would acquire the asset custodian Kingdom Trust, blockchain security firm BitGo has decided instead it would just build its own.
The startup said Thursday that it was "seeking a charter to build BitGo Trust," a "new, regulated, qualified custodian" that will be built specifically for digital assets, according to a Medium post. At the same time, it announced it would no longer proceed with acquiring Kingdom Trust, after approval of the acquisition spent four months in regulatory limbo.
This limbo, however, is not what inspired BitGo to build its own trust, marketing vice president Clarissa Horowitz told CoinDesk. Rather, the startup came to the decision after looking at its clients' needs, she said, adding:
"We spent a lot of time over the course of this working with customers because ultimately that's who we're going to be serving and we realized they would be best served by a custodian who was entirely focused on their assets, so our focus has been to create a fully qualified independent digital custodian."
While BitGo does not yet know what sort of timeline it is looking at, Horowitz did say that the company is "working very closely with regulators." In the meantime, it already offers customers two options for asset management. The first option revolves around BitGo's recently-announced suite of custodial services, where the company now offers several degrees of custodial services.
Alternatively, clients can manage their own assets, she said.
On the importance of building a digital asset custodian specifically aimed at the cryptocurrency space, Horowitz said "I think it's critical, I think the way that you hold digital assets [is different from how you're] holding stock certificates."
She referred to comments made by BitGo chief executive Mike Belshe, who said in a previous post that "custodians make institutional investing possible by providing a level of checks and balances to keep money safe."
Bank vault door image via Shutterstock
The leader in blockchain news, CoinDesk is a media outlet that strives for the highest journalistic standards and abides by a strict set of editorial policies. CoinDesk is an independent operating subsidiary of Digital Currency Group, which invests in cryptocurrencies and blockchain startups.
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Digital Asset Custodian
NEWS
Nikhilesh De
May 25, 2018 at 16:45 UTC | Updated May 25, 2018 at 18:46 UTC
Four months after announcing it would acquire the asset custodian Kingdom Trust, blockchain security firm BitGo has decided instead it would just build its own.
The startup said Thursday that it was "seeking a charter to build BitGo Trust," a "new, regulated, qualified custodian" that will be built specifically for digital assets, according to a Medium post. At the same time, it announced it would no longer proceed with acquiring Kingdom Trust, after approval of the acquisition spent four months in regulatory limbo.
This limbo, however, is not what inspired BitGo to build its own trust, marketing vice president Clarissa Horowitz told CoinDesk. Rather, the startup came to the decision after looking at its clients' needs, she said, adding:
"We spent a lot of time over the course of this working with customers because ultimately that's who we're going to be serving and we realized they would be best served by a custodian who was entirely focused on their assets, so our focus has been to create a fully qualified independent digital custodian."
While BitGo does not yet know what sort of timeline it is looking at, Horowitz did say that the company is "working very closely with regulators." In the meantime, it already offers customers two options for asset management. The first option revolves around BitGo's recently-announced suite of custodial services, where the company now offers several degrees of custodial services.
Alternatively, clients can manage their own assets, she said.
On the importance of building a digital asset custodian specifically aimed at the cryptocurrency space, Horowitz said "I think it's critical, I think the way that you hold digital assets [is different from how you're] holding stock certificates."
She referred to comments made by BitGo chief executive Mike Belshe, who said in a previous post that "custodians make institutional investing possible by providing a level of checks and balances to keep money safe."
Bank vault door image via Shutterstock
The leader in blockchain news, CoinDesk is a media outlet that strives for the highest journalistic standards and abides by a strict set of editorial policies. CoinDesk is an independent operating subsidiary of Digital Currency Group, which invests in cryptocurrencies and blockchain startups.
BitGoKingdom TrustAsset Custodian
PREVIOUS ARTICLE
CryptoKitties Charity Auction Raises $15K for Children's...
NEXT ARTICLE
PlaceholderYou are reading the most recent article in this section.
RELATED STORIES
May 14, 2018 at 04:00 | Pete Rizzo
BitGo Courts Wall Street With New Bitcoin Custody Products
Apr 30, 2018 at 14:00 | Nikhilesh De
Arrington-Backed Startup Launches Crypto-for-Cash Credit Platform
Apr 13, 2018 at 20:30 | Nikhilesh De
BitGo Co-Founder Ben Davenport Is Stepping Down
Mar 8, 2018 at 09:00 | Brady Dale
Compliant ICOs? Bitcoin OGs Launch Token Sale Service
Load Comments
Bitcoin$7.392,24
Ethereum$585,1
Bitcoin Cash$1.009,8
Litecoin$118,61
XRP$0,6049
Features
Pink Taxis, Red Flags: A Deep Dive Into a Sketchy ICO
augur, coin The Record-Breaking $152 Million Battle Over Blockchain Betting Tool Augur
Manufacturing and Blockchain: Prime Time Is Yet to Come
Bet vs. Buy? The ICO Market Has a Serious East-West Divide
Find your career in blockchain
Don't miss a single story
Subscribe to our free newsletter and follow us
Email Address
Have a breaking story?
Let us know here »
About
Press
Events
Editorial policy
Comments policy
Terms & conditions
Privacy policy
Jobs
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Newsletter