The downfall of FTX has become but the latest reminder that user funds may not be safe if left on centralized exchanges. This leaves some investors facing a dilemma, since they depend on exchanges, but often either aren’t aware or haven’t been eligible for more secure storage solutions.

To help solve this dilemma, BitGo is enabling investors with at least $25,000 in custodial assets to apply for an account with BitGo Trust Company. That means they can store their digital assets in regulated, insured cold storage, where the funds will be kept safe from attacks in our bank-grade vaults.

Why we’re making this change

As an industry, crypto needs to separate trading, financing, and custody. Exchanges perform an important role, supplying liquidity and access to investors. But, once you trade, we recommend you move your assets off the exchange and hold them with a trusted wallet provider.

We believe good security should be accessible for everyone. That’s why we’re taking this step — to help make that a reality in our corner of the market.

How BitGo Trust protects customer funds

When you create a custodial account with BitGo Trust Company, your assets will be protected in cold storage by bank-grade security and insured up to $250M USD.

BitGo Trust operates as what’s called a “qualified custodian,” which means we’re a regulated entity that:

  • Has a fiduciary duty to its clients

  • Holds client funds in segregated accounts

  • Meets rigorous regulatory standards and audits that help protect client funds against loss, theft, or misuse

BitGo will never move assets from your wallet without your authorization or commingle those funds with other funds — in other words, the assets residing in your custodial wallet are entirely yours, and only yours. BitGo Trust is further subject to oversight and routine auditing by the South Dakota Division of Banking.

In addition, users may be eligible to leverage BitGo Prime’s trading product, which will allow you to trade on a riskless principal basis and settle securely in your cold storage wallet without needing to go directly to a centralized exchange. BitGo Prime is your counterparty. BitGo itself does not operate its own exchange and does not engage in any proprietary trading.

For almost 10 years, BitGo has continuously reiterated the importance of security in the digital asset space, and security is needed now more than ever to restore trust in the ecosystem.

How to get started

For those looking to hold at least $1M in assets in custody, please contact sales@bitgo.com.

For those looking to hold less than $1M in assets in custody, visit our Sign Up page and follow these steps:

  • Select “Starter”

  • Create your account

  • Click “Settings”

  • Go to “Plans/Subscriptions”

  • Pick the “Growth” plan

  • Select “Custody Kit”

  • Enter your credit card details

  • Fill out your details so our team can complete our standard screening process for custody

About BitGo

BitGo is the leading infrastructure provider of digital asset solutions, offering custody, wallets, staking, trading, financing and settlement out of regulated cold storage. Founded in 2013, BitGo is the first digital asset company to focus exclusively on serving institutional clients. BitGo is dedicated to advancing a digital financial services economy that is borderless and accessible 24/7. With multiple Trust companies around the world, BitGo is the preferred security and operational backbone for more than 1,500 institutional clients in 50 countries, including many of the world’s top brands, cryptocurrency exchanges and platforms. BitGo also secures approximately 20% of all on-chain Bitcoin transactions by value and is the largest independent digital asset custodian. For more information, please visit www.bitgo.com.

©2024 BitGo Inc. (collectively with its affiliates and subsidiaries, “BitGo”). All rights reserved. BitGo Trust Company, Inc., BitGo Inc., and BitGo Prime LLC are separately operated, wholly-owned subsidiaries of BitGo Holdings, Inc., a Delaware corporation headquartered in Palo Alto, CA. No legal, tax, investment, or other advice is provided by any BitGo entity. Please consult your legal/tax/investment professional for questions about your specific circumstances. Digital asset holdings involve a high degree of risk, and can fluctuate greatly on any given day. Accordingly, your digital asset holdings may be subject to large swings in value and may even become worthless. The information provided herein is not intended for distribution to, or use by, any person or entity in any jurisdiction or country where such distribution or use would be contrary to law or regulation. BitGo is not directing this information to any person in any jurisdiction where the publication or availability of the information is prohibited, by reason of that person’s citizenship, residence or otherwise.