Komainu is the global winner of the best digital custody provider award, standing out for its combination of regulated, segregated custody with a growing network for collateral management and market connectivity. Its model addresses a central concern for institutional investors: how to participate in digital-asset markets without accepting the commingling, counterparty exposure and uncertain ownership structures associated with holding assets directly on an exchange.
Rather than adding institutional safeguards to a crypto-native platform, Komainu applies traditional custody principles to digital assets from the outset. These include individually segregated, on-chain wallets, maker-checker processes and configurable approval rules. Client assets are held off-balance sheet in bankruptcy-remote structures, giving their owners visibility over their holdings and a clearer legal claim to them.
That foundation was strengthened during the review period when Komainu completed a $75 million Series B fundraising led by Blockstream Capital Partners and funded entirely in bitcoin. The investment supported expansion in technology, products, regulatory coverage and staffing. Its workforce grew from about 50 to approximately 100 during the period. The transaction also brought Blockstream’s bitcoin and sidechain expertise into Komainu’s technology strategy.
Choice and resilience in custody
Komainu’s custody architecture gives institutions a choice of technologies without forcing them to change how they interact with the platform. Its orchestration layer sits above different wallet systems and incorporates Komainu’s user interface, API and operating controls. Behind it, clients can use hardware security modules, multi-party computation, multi-signature and other arrangements, drawing on both proprietary technology and external providers.
This design supports about 55 blockchain protocols and more than 6,000 tokens. More importantly, the platform allows the same type of asset to be stored across different wallet technologies, which provides redundancy and reduces dependence on any single provider or technical architecture. Komainu maintains active wallets across multiple providers and says that, if one fails, it can recover assets through pre-activated wallets within the same jurisdiction. Recovery procedures are regularly tested and independently audited, while seed material is stored off site in geographically separate bullion vaults.
Komainu’s notable achievement was to combine scale with asset segregation, technological choice, regulated collateral mobility and operating controls that institutional clients already understand
The controls surrounding the technology are equally important. Account rules can be configured down to wallet level, including whitelists, transaction limits and user permissions. Transfers are subject to system-enforced validation and multiple authorisations. The platform also offers a panic mode that can prevent further transactions from being approved while the client receives support. Komainu holds SOC 1 Type II and SOC 2 Type II attestations, as well as ISO 27001 certification, and uses continuous network monitoring and external penetration testing.
Its portal brings custody operations, portfolio views, transactions and reporting into one interface. Clients can create reports for accounting and reconciliation, approve movements to whitelisted addresses, monitor staking rewards and allocate assets as collateral. Institutions that prefer automated workflows can connect through an API, while a separate connectivity layer translates blockchain activity for legacy core banking systems. This enables banks to incorporate digital assets into existing reconciliation, reporting and risk processes rather than rebuilding their infrastructure.
Keeping collateral away from exchanges
Komainu Connect was another important differentiator. The off-exchange settlement and collateral platform separates custody from execution, allowing institutions to trade with connected venues while their assets remain with Komainu. During 2025, the company tripled the platform’s integrations, adding connections to exchanges including Bybit, Deribit and OKX. Assets do not have to be pre-funded to exchange accounts, while collateral can move on a near real-time basis to support round-the-clock trading.
Komainu, led by co-CEOs Paul Frost-Smith and Robert Johnson, also expanded the range of collateral accepted through the service to include tokenised assets such as BlackRock’s BUIDL. Such instruments can produce a return while being held as collateral and retain the mobility of an on-chain asset. This offers institutions an alternative to leaving non-yielding balances at trading venues and improves the productive use of assets held in custody.
Its regulatory progress reinforced the platform’s credibility. Komainu operates under regulatory frameworks in Jersey, the UK and Dubai, and in 2025 became the first custodian to receive a collateral-wallet licence extension from Dubai’s Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority. This allows it to support regulated collateral arrangements involving exchanges, lenders and prime brokers in the UAE.
Scale alone did not secure the award. Komainu’s notable achievement was to combine that scale with asset segregation, technological choice, regulated collateral mobility and operating controls that institutional clients already understand. It has built not simply a place to hold digital assets but custody infrastructure that lets those assets be governed, reported and deployed without weakening control over them.
