BitGo Launches First NFT Custody Platform for US Institutions
More institutions will feel comfortable entering the space as secure options become available, BitGo’s chief product officer said
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key takeaways
- This is the first US-qualified custody solution that can be paired with hot wallets, BitGo said
- Although crypto markets have slumped in recent weeks, BitGo’s CPO is confident that NFTs will hold on to their momentum
BitGo has launched an NFT hot wallet and custody solution for developers, retail marketplaces and institutions, the digital asset security and liquidity provider announced Wednesday. BitGo is launching the solution in partnership with Parallel Finance, a decentralized lending and staking protocol.
This is the first US-qualified custody solution that can be paired with hot wallets, BitGo Chief Product Officer Chen Fang said. BitGo currently services 700 institutional clients, Fang said.
Clients can interact with decentralized marketplaces such as OpenSea and LooksRare through BitGo’s new wallet service, similar to how MetaMask users can integrate their wallets, but Fang said BitGo’s solution is the safer choice.
“These people using MetaMask are using pretty insecure solutions to store hundreds of thousands of dollars, if not millions of dollars, of NFTs,” Fang said. “[They] will now have this amazing place to keep treasured possessions.”
The hot wallet allows retail and institutional investors to receive, hold and send NFTs (non-fungible tokens). It uses multi-signature security and 24/7 withdrawal access and support, similar to BitGo’s other cryptocurrency custody services, Fang said.
The expansion of services is reflective of market demand for more sophisticated services, Fang said. Investors are starting to take more ownership over their assets’ storage and security, he added.
“When there is an institutional investor that’s throwing in $20 [million] or $30 million, or even $100 million worth of value and converting it into bitcoin, obviously you don’t really want to keep it on single-signature wallets,” Fang said. “You don’t want to keep these assets on a non-air gapped internet connected device, so this is where BitGo came into existence, and with our technology have welcomed institutional investment in this asset class.”
Although cryptocurrency markets have experienced a downturn in recent weeks, Fang is confident that the NFT momentum will continue in the long run.
“Given where the prices are, despite overall market conditions, the prices for some of these top tier NFTs are still pretty high,” Fang said. “We’re talking about a couple hundreds of thousands of dollars, if not a couple millions of dollars of assets that you want to protect. You don’t want to keep a couple of million dollars worth of assets on your Chrome browser.”
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