Cryptocurrency
Understanding crypto custody: What different solutions entail for investors and businesses
As crypto continues to cement itself into our financial system, the question of custody, or how individuals and entities should hold their assets, is becoming increasingly important. This is especially true following the fallout of multiple centralized platforms last year, such as FTX and Gemini, which caused many investors to lose their crypto holdings.
The ethos of crypto is decentralization and ownership. Because third parties are effectively cut out, individuals have direct control over their funds. They don’t need to trust middlemen, such as banks or other centralized financial entities, to properly manage their assets.
However, this complete control is often somewhat sacrificed when the question of storage comes into play. There are two types of digital wallets for storing cryptocurrency, custodial and non-custodial wallets, and each have their unique advantages and disadvantages. The primary difference between the two lies in the control and custody of the private keys, which are the cryptographic codes that enable cryptocurrency transactions. Generally, custodial wallets are less safe but more convenient, while non-custodial wallets are more secure but less convenient.
Selecting between the two is a tricky tradeoff, but it is important that users, investors and institutions have a fundamental understanding of how each option works and the associated risks before deciding how they want to store their assets.
When investors choose to use non-custodial wallets, also referred to as self-custody, they have total control over their private keys and by extension, total control over their assets. Self-custodying is in essence the ethos of crypto — there is no counterparty risk. Full ownership gives investors the flexibility to exchange their assets wherever and however they choose.
By self-custodying, there is no risk of a third-party provider getting hacked, going bankrupt or disappearing, which provides a level of security by removing external dependencies. Furthermore, since there is no third-party involvement, transactions can be more private (depending on the blockchain used).
With custodial wallets, users put their assets in complete control of a middleman or service provider who has complete control over the private keys. This poses many security risks and increases the likelihood of loss of funds. It can also result in access limitations, as exchanges may freeze access to funds due to legal issues, policy violations or technical problems.
Even the most high-profile cryptocurrency exchanges have not been shielded from these issues. Many have been targeted and successfully hacked in the past. And if recent collapses like that of FTX have shown us anything, it’s that some firms have also been both reckless in managing customer funds or susceptible to full-blown bankruptcies. Users who custodied their assets on FTX lost tens to hundreds of millions of dollars.
So then, why do investors still choose custodial over non-custodial wallets? Custodial wallets are typically easier to use, especially for newcomers, as they often come with a user-friendly interface. Those offered by exchanges often provide more services, such as trading, borrowing, staking or rewards services. Additionally, many custodial providers have recovery options so if you forget your password or lose access to your account, there is usually a way to recover it because the service provider maintains control of the keys.
Whereas with self-custody, individuals are responsible for maintaining their private key. There is no password reset. Misplaced private keys may mean total irrecoverable loss of funds. Lastly, certain custodial providers offer insurance solutions to mitigate certain counterparty risk.
As users assess the pros and cons between both solutions, there are additional factors that have become increasingly relevant given recent market investors. When users deposit their crypto on a centralized exchange, they are essentially “loaning” their crypto coins to the exchange, in turn making them unsecured creditors. In doing so, they give the exchange the power to use those funds at its discretion, meaning the funds may be used as collateral for large loans, trades, etc.
Assuming these exchanges use the funds as intended, implement risk management strategies and keep careful records to inform next steps, they offer a convenient and theoretically safe avenue for investors to hold their crypto. Unfortunately, FTX has proven that firms don’t necessarily abide by responsible standards, calling into question the integrity of centralized exchanges and the safety of custodial wallets more broadly.
Businesses can, in part, avoid some of these third-party risks by ensuring they select exchanges that are regulatory compliant, employ high-security standards and are transparent with regard to their funds and ability to collateralize assets. As greater regulation is introduced, there should be tighter safeguards in place to protect investors and their funds when they choose to trust custodians with their crypto.
Overall, businesses and individuals should constantly scrutinize their custodial strategies to ensure their funds are properly managed. One avenue could be to employ both types of custodial solutions for funds, keeping a very close eye on those that are held by custodians and ensuring they are properly diversified.
The information provided here is not investment, tax or financial advice. You should consult with a licensed professional for advice concerning your specific situation.
Anthony Georgiades is the co-founder of Pastel Network.
This article was published through Cointelegraph Innovation Circle, a vetted organization of senior executives and experts in the blockchain technology industry who are building the future through the power of connections, collaboration and thought leadership. Opinions expressed do not necessarily reflect those of Cointelegraph.
Ripple’s recent price action underscores significant bullish momentum as buyers continue to dominate the market.
Despite a potential brief consolidation phase, XRP is steadily approaching another coveted milestone of $2, with the prospect of achieving tapping that target by the year’s end growing.
XRP Analysis
By Shayan
The Weekly Chart
The weekly chart reveals Ripple’s remarkable trends, marked by a significant sell-off following the SEC lawsuit, during which the price plummeted to $0.28, a staggering 85% decline. This phase was followed by an extended period of low-volatility consolidation.
Eventually, buyers returned with vigor, driving the price through key resistance levels, including the pivotal $1.3 mark. Ripple’s subsequent impulsive surge highlights strong buying interest, pushing the cryptocurrency closer to a local peak of $1.9.
As the price approaches this critical level, bullish sentiment remains robust, but caution is warranted due to the overbought condition reflected in the RSI indicator. A brief consolidation or correction may precede upward momentum, with $1.3 as the primary support during any potential pullback.
The 4-Hour Chart
The 4-hour timeframe reflects Ripple’s breakout dynamics in greater detail. Upon encountering resistance at the $1.3 zone, the asset entered a consolidation phase, forming a sideways triangle pattern. This setup allowed the RSI to retreat from overbought levels and settle at equilibrium. Eventually, XRP surged, breaking out of the triangle’s upper boundary, signaling a bullish continuation.
Ripple managed to reclaim the $1.3 threshold and advance toward $2. While the bullish momentum is evident, a bearish divergence between the price and RSI hints at possible exhaustion. Furthermore, the presence of supply near the $1.9 resistance zone increases the likelihood of a consolidation phase in the near term. This temporary pause could allow the market to stabilize before XRP attempts to achieve new highs.
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Cryptocurrency charts by TradingView.
Bitcoin’s inability to overcome the coveted $100,000 milestone on Friday and Saturday has resulted in a minor price decline to around $98,000 as of now.
Several altcoins, such as XRP and DOGE, have plummeted as well in the past day, but others, like TON, DOT, and XLM, have charted double-digit surges.
BTC Calms to $98K
BTC traded at around $90,000 at the start of the business week but quickly started to gain traction and exploded above the previous all-time high of $93,800 by the middle of it. This came amid the growing impressive net inflows toward the spot Bitcoin ETFs in the States.
The cryptocurrency’s rally continued in the following days and peaked on Friday. At the time, the asset came just inches away from touching $100,000 but was stopped at about $99,800 on most exchanges.
Thus, it failed to reach that line for the first time ever, even though the community was anticipating and predicting it. Since then, BTC has lost some traction and has retraced by around two grand to $98,000 now.
Still, it’s 7.2% up on the week, which places its market cap at $1.940 trillion on CG. Its dominance over the alts, though, has declined further to 55.5%, which brought speculations about a potential altcoin season.
XLM’s Show
Many larger-cap alts like ADA, XRP, and DOGE charted notable gains yesterday, but have retraced heavily today. ADA is down by 3% to under $1.05, XRP has slumped by over 6% to under $1.45, and DOGE has plummeted by 7.5% to $0.43.
In contrast, TON and DOT have soared by 11% and 17%, respectively, to $6.25 and $8.9. XLM, though, has stolen the show once again by skyrocketing by 29%. Stellar’s native token has added more than 480% in the past month and now trades above $0.56.
The total crypto market cap has shed about $50 billion since yesterday’s peak but still stands close to $3.5 trillion on CG.
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The US-based spot Bitcoin ETFs enjoyed a highly positive week, with every trading day ending with net inflows of millions and even billions of dollars.
In stark contrast, the Ethereum counterparties ended the same five-day trading period deep in red territory.
Over $3B Enter BTC ETFs Weekly
It has been nothing short of a spectacular run for BTC’s price as well as the inflows in the spot Bitcoin ETFs in the US after Donald Trump’s decisive victory in the 2024 presidential elections. The past trading week was no different, although it started somewhat sluggishly on Monday with a modest $254.8 million in inflows.
However, things picked up on Tuesday with $829.5 million, another $773.4 million on Wednesday, and $490.3 million on Friday. Oh, let’s not forget the whopping $1.005,1 billion on Thursday. This puts the total for the week at $3.353,1 billion, according to Farside.
Expectedly, BlackRock’s IBIT, the world’s largest Bitcoin ETF, was at the forefront of these substantial inflows most days. IBIT attracted over $500 million on three separate occasions – Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday. Thus, its total AUM has skyrocketed to well over $31 billion.
Fidelity’s FBTC also saw some impressive inflows of $256.1 million on Tuesday and just over $300 million on Thursday. Ark Invest’s ARKB had its best day on Tuesday, with $267.3 million in net inflows.
Within this highly positive week for the ETFs, BTC’s price shot up from around $90,000 on Monday to $99,825 (on Bitstamp) on Friday, thus coming less than $200 away from the six-figure territory.
ETH ETFs Suffer
The spot Ethereum ETFs also had quite impressive several trading days after the US elections, marking their best week yet in the period from November 11 to November 15. However, there were some warning signs at the end of the week, which only intensified in the following days.
In fact, the ETH ETFs ended almost every day in the past trading week in the red, with outflows of $39.1 million on Monday, $81.3 million on Tuesday, $30.3 million on Wednesday, and $9 million on Thursday. The funds managed to break this negative streak, which actually extended to six consecutive days in the red, including the previous Thursday and Friday, on November 22.
They attracted $91.3 million, with BlackRock’s ETHA leading the pack with $99.7 million, while Grayscale’s ETHE and ETH were in the red with $18.6 million and $0.6 million, respectively.
Overall, the ETH funds ended the week with net outflows of $68.4 million. Nevertheless, ETH’s price is up by just over 10% in the past week and sits above $3,400.
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