Komainu, the institutional digital asset custody firm founded by Nomura, Coinshares and Ledger, has unveiled a new crypto collateral management solution that avoids the need to lodge cryptocurrency collateral at trading venues.
With the collapse of multiple crypto exchanges and lending platforms, keeping the collateral separate from trading venues is critical.
Komainu’s Connect solution uses triparty agreements in a similar way to traditional finance (TradFi). That way, when an investor transacts with a trading venue that could be at any time (24/7), Nomura confirms to the trading venue that the assets are held under custody in a segregated account. Typically under triparty agreements, the custodian performs various add on functions as well.
“Our new collateral management services allow clients to maximise trading opportunities, reduce counterparty risk, while keeping their assets secure with a regulated custodian,” said Komainu Head of Sales Darren Jordan. “This is the benchmark for full-service institutional custody.”
Additionally, Komainu unveiled an enhanced staking solution for the Ethereum Shanghai fork, expected April 12.
Komainu was the pioneer institutional digital asset custody solution with its 2020 launch. In late 2020, Standard Chartered and Northern Trust unveiled plans for their solution Zodia. But since the start of 2021, an avalanche of institutional crypto custody offerings has been announced, including by the biggest players, BNY Mellon and State Street. If anything, the array of offerings continues to accelerate.
