A report issued by Ccdata, a digital asset-focused research firm, describes that crypto custodians have been evolving to introduce new use cases for their institutional customers. These new use cases include staking services, tokenized real-world assets (RWA) custody, and investment product-related opportunities.
Report: Crypto Custodians Are Changing
A report published by Ccdata, a cryptocurrency market research firm, and commissioned by Zodia Custody, an institutional grade custody provider owned by Standard Chartered, Northern Trust, and SBI, paints a picture of the evolution of these custodians in the digital asset landscape, and how they have been including more services to complement the traditional offerings.
According to the report, there are currently only about 100 custodians serving institutional and retail customers, while there are close to 1.5 billion unique Bitcoin and Ethereum wallets, a sign that massive adoption and usage for crypto assets is in trend.
To bring institutions to the cryptocurrency world, Ccdata’s report stated that custodians “will need to be quick to respond to innovative changes within the industry.” Ccdata examined several use cases in which crypto custodians are changing to reach more institutions, allowing them to do more with their digital assets.
New Services
The first new service considered is staking, which refers to the ability of institutional customers to use their crypto assets to validate the transactions of proof-of-stake networks like Ethereum or Solana. Ccdata mentions that this is currently a $20 billion field to be dominated by institutional capital in the future and that “custodians will be required to assist operationally to enable non-native investors to take advantage of these opportunities.”
Another one of these new use cases is the tokenization of real-world assets (RWA), an industry that has grown tenfold since the start of the year and is expected to reach $4 trillion by 2030, according to a Citi report.
Custodians are partnering with different startups to provide institutions with tokenized RWA-focused services, issuing, managing, and distributing these assets transparently for their owners.
Another growth case supports the operation of institutional-oriented products, including trusts and exchange-traded products (ETPs), that have maintained over $35 billion in assets during August. The report added that the discussion about, and possible launch of, a spot Bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF) in the U.S. is “likely to change the landscape for the sector,” widening the scope for creating new investment products.
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