Banks’ Digital-Asset Custody Choices Can Shape Their Services

Banks’ digital-asset custody choices can shape the services they offer, with implications for governance, transaction controls and technology integration.

Boston Consulting Group (BCG) published Beyond Safekeeping: Custody as the Operating Layer Beneath Digital Finance on Thursday, Oct. 22, and Ripple commissioned the report. Custody can serve as an operating layer beneath digital finance, extending beyond asset safekeeping.

With centralized-exchange holdings excluded, institutional custody models cover more than 30% of digital assets. Those models include qualified custodians, enterprise self-custody and wallet-as-a-service.

The four approaches are institution-run self-custody systems, wallet-as-a-service, managed custody and non-custodial wallets. Institutions can combine them for different activities, including managed custody for investment products and internal infrastructure for treasury or payments.

Transaction controls should specify who can initiate an action, who approves it and how it is independently verified. Governance, regulatory compliance, integration with financial systems and the ability to operate across multiple custodians also matter.

“Banks need to think beyond safekeeping,” said Tibor Merey, a BCG managing director and partner who coauthored the report.

An illustrative analysis estimates $80 million to $100 million in profit-and-loss upside for a regional bank with $200 billion to $300 billion in assets. The scenario pairs custody choices with five digital-asset use cases.

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), Federal Reserve Board (FRB) and Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) reminded banks on July 14, 2025, to provide crypto-asset safekeeping safely and in compliance with applicable laws. The joint statement created no new supervisory expectations.