ChainCatcher news, according to Bloomberg, U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Chairman Gary Gensler stated that the digital asset custody service structure proposed by Bank of New York Mellon can be applied to cryptocurrencies beyond Bitcoin and Ethereum ETFs.Gensler mentioned that the structure proposed by Bank of New York Mellon includes the use of individual crypto wallets, with each wallet having a separate bank account, and prohibits mixing with bank assets. Earlier this week, Bank of New York Mellon acknowledged that it had submitted a Bitcoin and Ethereum custody plan to the SEC's Office of the Chief Accountant to protect customer funds in the event of a bank bankruptcy.

ChainCatcher news, according to Bloomberg, so far, crypto-native companies like Coinbase Global Inc. and BitGo Inc. have been the dominant service providers, while traditional financial firms mostly remain in a holding pattern due to concerns over regulatory uncertainty surrounding digital assets.Although the current custody market is only about $300 million, the business remains attractive, with companies like Fireblocks Inc. estimating an annual growth rate of around 30% for the industry.Leading custody banks such as BNY Mellon, State Street Corp., and Citigroup Inc. have begun to dip their toes into the cryptocurrency custody space or have expressed interest. Despite facing setbacks, these companies are experimenting, with many plans focused on the protection of tokenized assets.For example, JPMorgan Chase & Co. operates a project called Onyx, which allows blockchain payments between bank clients. In December last year, a custody trust and clearing company acquired Securrency to provide products for tokenizing traditional financial assets. In August of this year, State Street chose the vendor Taurus for the tokenization and custody of digital asset services.One major issue hindering the entry of established financial institutions is a U.S. SEC regulation known as SAB 121, which prevents highly regulated financial companies from offering cryptocurrency custody services. President Biden vetoed efforts by Congress to overturn the rule. Several banks have received exemptions.

ChainCatcher news, according to CoinDesk, Binance US has chosen Fireblocks to enhance cryptocurrency custody and staking services, assuring users and regulators that customer assets on the exchange are handled securely and compliantly, while also supporting cryptocurrency token staking services.The two companies stated on Wednesday that the company will use Fireblocks wallet technology to support hot and cold custody, as well as customer deposits and withdrawals. Fireblocks' key management system will also help expand the exchange's staking services.

ChainCatcher news, State Street has chosen digital asset infrastructure provider Taurus to offer digital asset services. State Street stated that the bank's initial focus is on launching tokenized versions of traditional assets, and it will announce its first client soon.State Street's Chief Product Officer and Head of Digital Asset Solutions, Donna Milrod, stated that the bank has been "very candid" about the need to amend SAB 121, which could force banks holding cryptocurrencies to maintain significant capital to offset risks.Milrod said, "While we are starting with tokenization, this is not our endpoint; once U.S. regulations are helpful to us, we will also provide digital custody services."

ChainCatcher news, according to Cointelegraph, Web3 infrastructure provider Fireblocks has announced that it has obtained a cryptocurrency custody license in New York State, allowing it to custody cryptocurrencies for U.S. clients.Fireblocks stated in a press release: "As of this month, Fireblocks Trust Company, LLC has obtained a limited purpose trust company charter to engage in virtual currency business and will soon begin offering cold custody solutions powered by Fireblocks technology to U.S. clients."The New York Department of Financial Services stated that Fireblocks has joined the growing list of institutional crypto companies authorized by the New York Department of Financial Services to custody assets, which includes Coinbase Custody Trust, Fidelity Digital Asset Services, and PayPal Digital.

ChainCatcher news, according to The Block, cryptocurrency custody firm Copper has partnered with Hedera to expand institutional access to the HBAR token. Copper will provide custody and staking services for the HBAR token and offer institutional users a gateway to DeFi through its ClearLoop and Connect platforms. Copper is chaired by former UK Chancellor of the Exchequer Philip Hammond and has over 300 large institutional and crypto exchange clients.

ChainCatcher news, Deep Custodian Limited has been granted the Hong Kong "Trust or Company Service Provider License (License No. TC009487)", allowing it to legally and compliantly provide clients with custody services for crypto assets including Bitcoin and Ethereum.Deep Custodian Limited stated that it will provide secure and compliant asset custody services for individual and institutional clients through state-of-the-art security technology, ensuring that every transaction can be conducted in a safe and reliable environment.In September last year, Deepcoin Labs was granted the Dubai DMCC license and established a $100 million fund to inject strong momentum and financial support for innovation in the Web3 industry. In January this year, Deepcoin became the seventh global exchange to obtain CODE compliance access to adhere to South Korea's cryptocurrency Travel Rule regulations.It is reported that since March 1, 2018, Hong Kong has officially implemented a licensing system for trust or company service providers, providing a legal and compliant regulatory framework for the independent custody of crypto assets, which is an important foundational system for Hong Kong as a Web3 financial center. TCSP has strict requirements for the IT infrastructure of applicants and operating entities, while inheriting many regulatory concepts from traditional finance, including compliance guarantees, KYC and anti-money laundering measures, as well as the establishment of cold and hot wallet security mechanisms, and the development of blockchain technology, among other stringent requirements.

ChainCatcher news, according to CoinDesk, the venture capital arm of the National Australia Bank (NAB), NAB Ventures, has recently invested in Zodia Custody, a company focused on cryptocurrency custody services, with the investment amount undisclosed.It is reported that Zodia Custody was co-founded by Standard Chartered and Northern Trust, aiming to provide secure digital asset custody services for institutional investors. Zodia Custody is set to commence operations in Australia by the end of 2023 and is preparing to become the preferred custodian for applicants of digital asset ETF approvals awaiting the Australian Securities Exchange.

ChainCatcher news, State Street Corp., headquartered in Boston, announced a restructuring of its digital asset team. Currently, its digital asset department has begun hiring, less than six months after layoffs in the department. It is reported that the bank plans to offer cryptocurrency custody services, a move that reflects State Street's increasing confidence in the digital asset market, as cryptocurrencies and tokenized assets become more integrated into the financial system.

ChainCatcher news, crypto VC Haun Ventures announced on its social platform that it has invested in the new round of financing for cryptocurrency custody company Fireblocks and on-chain data tracking and analysis platform Chainalysis.According to reports, The Information disclosed in April that Haun Ventures had acquired a portion of Chainalysis shares through the secondary market.

ChainCatcher news, according to The Block, the U.S. House of Representatives voted to pass a resolution aimed at overturning the SEC's cryptocurrency custody accounting standards announcement. The House vote resulted in 228 - 182, with a majority of Republicans supporting the measure. 21 Democrats voted in favor.The announcement was first issued in 2022 and has sparked controversy over the past year. It requires cryptocurrency custodians to record the cryptocurrencies held by clients on their balance sheets as liabilities. The crypto industry is concerned that this move could prevent banks from safeguarding digital assets. However, on Wednesday, the White House released a "government policy statement," stating that President Biden would veto the resolution.The White House stated, "Limiting the SEC's ability to maintain a comprehensive and effective financial regulatory framework for crypto assets would lead to serious financial instability and market uncertainty." The resolution may be submitted to the Senate Banking Committee and then voted on by the full Senate.

ChainCatcher news, according to Bloomberg, Germany's largest state bank Landesbank Baden-Württemberg plans to collaborate with the cryptocurrency trading platform Bitpanda to provide cryptocurrency custody services for institutional and corporate clients in the second half of the year.

ChainCatcher news, according to the official announcement, the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) has announced amendments to the Payment Services Act (PS Act) and its subsidiary regulations, expanding the scope of payment services regulated by MAS and implementing user protection and financial stability-related requirements for digital payment token (DPT) service providers. These amendments will take effect in phases starting from April 4, 2024. The amendments will bring the following activities under the regulation of the PS Act:Providing custody services for DPT;Facilitating the transfer of DPT between accounts and the exchange of DPT, even if the service provider does not handle the funds or DPT;Facilitating cross-border fund transfers between different countries, even if the funds are not accepted or received in Singapore.In addition, transitional arrangements will be provided for entities currently conducting activities under the expanded scope of the PS Act. These entities must notify MAS within 30 days starting from April 4 and submit a license application within six months from April 4, 2024, if they wish to temporarily continue these activities while MAS reviews their license application. Entities that do not comply with the above requirements will be required to cease activities when the amendments take effect.

ChainCatcher news, insurance brokerage Marsh announced in a press release that it has launched a digital asset custody insurance product with a capacity of up to $825 million, making it the largest of its kind.The company stated that the new insurance product will support organizations that store digital assets offline in cold storage, as well as other custody solutions such as multi-party computation (MPC), where cryptographic keys are sharded.

ChainCatcher news, South Korea's largest institutional cryptocurrency custody service provider, Korea Digital Assets (KODA), announced that it will receive a capital increase of 3 billion KRW (approximately 2.25 million USD). This is about twice the capital of KODA, and the target company for the capital increase is still unclear.It is reported that KODA is a joint venture of KB Kookmin Bank, blockchain technology company Hatchlabs, and blockchain investment firm Hashd.

ChainCatcher news, according to Cointelegraph, the U.S. House Financial Services Committee (HSFC) voted in favor of a resolution aimed at overturning the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's guidance (SAB 121) that prevents banks from participating in cryptocurrency custody. This guidance was introduced in March 2022 and requires institutions that custody crypto assets to record the held crypto assets as liabilities on their balance sheets.Republican Congressman Mike Flood, who proposed the resolution, stated that SAB 121 is unfair to banks looking to custody cryptocurrencies, as custodial assets "are always considered off-balance-sheet assets," which includes securities and digital assets like Bitcoin. Flood added, "If a bank were to custody digital assets under the parameters of SAB 121, the treatment on the balance sheet would affect its other regulatory obligations, such as capital and liquidity requirements."It is worth noting that before SAB 121 can be overturned, the resolution still needs to pass a full vote in both the House and the Senate.

ChainCatcher news, according to CoinDesk, cryptocurrency custody provider Finoa has integrated Centrifuge's Anemoy tokenized treasury fund into its custody wallet system.It is reported that Finoa is a cryptocurrency custody company licensed by the German regulator BaFin. Anemoy was established and regulated in the British Virgin Islands, focusing on large DeFi investors, DAO treasuries, and stablecoin protocols.

ChainCatcher news, crypto custody and staking service provider Finoa has completed a $15 million financing round, led by Maven 11 Capital and Balderton Capital, with participation from Blue Bay Ventures, Signature Ventures, Coparion, and Venture Stars.Christopher May, co-founder and co-CEO of Finoa, stated that this equity financing round started in June last year and concluded in December.Finoa initially aimed to raise $5 to $6 million in this round from existing investors, but due to external investors' interest in the company's recent return to profitability, it ultimately raised more funds.This strategic financing comes nearly three years after Finoa raised $22 million in its Series A round in April 2021. Given the challenging market conditions last year, Finoa did not pursue a large Series B round but opted for a smaller strategic financing to achieve growth. A source familiar with the matter indicated that this round of financing maintained a valuation of $100 million, consistent with Finoa's Series A valuation in 2021.

ChainCatcher news, according to Crowdfund Insider, the Abu Dhabi-based cryptocurrency custody service company Changer.ae has obtained a cryptocurrency custody service operating license issued by the Abu Dhabi Global Market (ADGM) Financial Services Regulatory Authority (FSRA).It is reported that Changer.ae offers subscription-based services for storing virtual assets and plans to expand its product range in early Q1 2024, including converting virtual assets into fiat currency and custody arrangements with undisclosed banking partners.