Standard Custody & Trust Company, LLC, a custody and settlement platform for digital assets, has received charter status to operate under New York State Banking Law as a regulated qualified custodian.
According to a release from the company, the New York State Department of Financial Services (NYDFS) charter permits Standard Custody to offer custodial and escrow services for clients in the digital asset sector.
Standard Custody Board Member Tim Keaney said that institutional investors are interested in the potential of digital assets and DeFi but need a custody and settlement solution that meet the demands of the global digital asset industry:
“This charter from the New York State Department of Financial Services enables Standard Custody to serve investors in compliance with the rigorous security measures required for institutional-grade service, enabling us to bridge traditional financial services to help grow an ecosystem where digital assets thrive.”
Standard Custody CEO Jack McDonald formerly served as CEO of Conifer Financial Services, an independent asset services firm acquired by SS&C. Arthur Britto designed the technical solutions for Standard Custody and parent company PolySign.
Standard Custody’s security program is said to combine proprietary blockchain technology, end-to-end encryption, and distributed trust protocols to protect secret keys. Standard Custody’s integrated escrow platform enables investors to buy and sell digital assets directly from custody, reducing the risk of external transfers and inefficient transactions between multiple accounts and different providers. Standard Custody facilitates 24/7 investor market access with improved security and capital efficiency.
McDonald said that Standard Custody is the only custodian to utilize third-party transaction verification and build its platform on a combination of ‘smart’ hardware security modules and novel blockchain technology resulting in a revolutionary ‘better than cold storage’ institutional custody solution.