U.S. Regulation

Crypto.com Launches U.S. Institutional Custody Service

Crypto.com has launched an institutional cryptocy custody service in the United States as part of a broader plan to expand its presence in the country, the crypto exchange said on Dec. 23. Dubbed Crypto.com Custody Trust Company, the chartered trust is eligible to custody assets for US institutions and high-net-worth individuals, Crypto.com said. Digital assets held by Crypto.com’s US and Canadian customers will migrate to Crypto.com Custody Trust Company “over the coming weeks,” the exchange said. 

“This step reflects our confidence in the North America[n] market,” Kris Marszalek, Crypto.com’s CEO, said in a statement. It also advances Crypto.com’s roadmap for “building our business and presence in two of the most important and active crypto markets in the world — the US and Canada,” Marszalek said. 

In December, US President-elect Donald Trump met with Marszalek at Trump’s home in Mar-a-Lago to discuss crypto policies. The same day, Crypto.com dropped its lawsuit against the US Securities and Exchange Commission, citing its “intent to work with the incoming administration on a regulatory framework for the industry.”

Trump has said he wants the US to be “the world’s crypto capital” and is tapping pro-industry leaders to head key regulatory agencies when he starts his presidential term in January.  Crypto.com is headquartered in Singapore and launched in the US in 2022, initially only for institutional investors. Crypto.com told Cointelegraph that the exchange is still not live in the US, but the app was never suspended in the jurisdiction.

In October, Crypto.com bought Watchdog Capital, a broker-dealer registered with the SEC, in a bid to expand its US footprint. Regulated digital asset custodians are proliferating in the US. In September, BitGo, a US crypto custodian, launched a regulated platform designed to custody and manage native tokens for Web3 protocols. 

In August, Cointelegraph reported that Fireblocks — best known for its self-custody treasury management products — obtained approval from New York’s financial regulator to custody assets for US clients.  Other institutional crypto companies — including Coinbase Custody Trust, Fidelity Digital Asset Services, and Anchorage Digital NY — are also similarly licensed.

Terron Gold

Recent Posts

Senator Murphy Alleges White House Insiders Profited From Iran Strike Bets, Pushes to Ban Prediction Markets on Government Actions

U.S. Senator Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) is calling for legislation to ban prediction markets that allow traders to bet…

2 days ago

IRS Proposes Electronic-Only Delivery For Crypto Tax Forms Under New Reporting Rules

The U.S. Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has proposed a new rule that would allow cryptocy brokers to deliver…

2 days ago

Crypto-Friendly Fintech Revolut Files For U.S. Banking License to Expand Crypto and Payments Services

Global fintech powerhouse Revolut has filed an application for a U.S. banking license, a move that would allow…

2 days ago

Suspect Arrested on Caribbean Island of Saint Martin in $46M Seized Crypto Theft Case

A man accused of stealing tens of millions of dollars in cryptocy from U.S. government…

2 days ago

NYSE Parent ICE Invests in Crypto Exchange OKX at $25B Valuation Amid Tokenized Stocks Push

Intercontinental Exchange (ICE) — the parent company of the New York Stock Exchange — has taken a strategic…

2 days ago

AI Models Favor Bitcoin as a Store of Value, Stablecoins for Payments, BPI Study Finds

A new study from the Bitcoin Policy Institute (BPI) found that leading artificial intelligence models overwhelmingly favor Bitcoin…

2 days ago