Report: Companies compete to be cryptocurrency custodians

Custody for digital assets operates completely differently that for traditional assets. And a growing number of crypto companies are competing to offer this service to institutions and high net worth individuals, writes, The Journal's Tomio Geron. Geron writes, "The role of custodian is especially important, since all a thief or hacker needs to steal cryptocurrency is the string of private keys, or codes, assigned to that specific asset." As more and more crypto-native and traditional companies enter the crypto custody space, Geron speculates that it could offer a stamp of legitimacy on the industry.

"Thus, secure custody practices not only address the custody requirements for registered investment advisers but also could offer a stamp of legitimacy for cryptocurrencies."