South Korea's finance minister pledged urgent reforms after past custody failures revealed weaknesses in how authorities safeguard seized cryptocurrency. The announcement signals possible procedural, technological and legal changes that could affect enforcement and market actors.
Morgan Stanley and Citigroup are expanding crypto offerings for institutional clients, strengthening custody, trading and tokenization capabilities. Their moves underscore rising demand from big investors and a shift toward more bank-led crypto infrastructure.
Morgan Stanley will offer in-house Bitcoin custody, trading, yield and lending services to clients, building the supporting technology internally rather than using third-party providers. The announcement, dated Feb. 26, 2026, marks a significant institutional push into integrated crypto infrastructure.
Citibank, which manages $2.5 trillion in assets, plans to roll out Bitcoin services in 2026, expanding institutional access to BTC. The move underscores growing integration of crypto into global payment systems and banking services.
Hong Kong’s 2026–27 Budget proposes mandatory licensing for crypto dealers and custodians and updates to tax rules for digital-asset activities. The measures aim to strengthen oversight and clarify obligations for individuals and institutions.
Crypto.com has received an initial nod to establish a U.S. national trust charter custody bank, aiming to consolidate custody services under federal supervision. The move could boost institutional confidence and streamline onshore custody options if finalized.
Ripple has expanded its institutional custody offering by partnering with Securosys and Figment, adding hardware security module protection and staking support for institutional clients. The move aims to strengthen key security and provide yield options for holders of supported assets.
Roughly $300 million in disclosed crypto funding closed in the first week of February, with custody and compliance names like Anchorage and TRM Labs among the headline deals. The rounds highlight renewed investor appetite for infrastructure and security-focused firms.
XDC Network has partnered with BitGo to provide regulated custody for XDC tokens and USDC, aiming to accelerate institutional adoption on its enterprise-focused blockchain. The move brings a major third-party custodian into XDC's compliance-oriented ecosystem.
A leading Brazilian digital bank has received conditional approval from the OCC to offer deposit accounts, credit cards, lending and digital asset custody in the United States. The step signals a notable push by a Latin American fintech into U.S. regulated crypto services.