Standard Custody debuts crypto custody tools via link-up with wealth management platform

The future of on-chain wealth management involves a mix of self- and qualified-custody for digital assets, executives say

article-image

David Sandron/Shutterstock modified by Blockworks

share

A new offering seeks to give financial advisers and their clients more flexibility when it comes to crypto custody — an area that has historically presented challenges for certain institutions. 

Standard Custody & Trust Company has joined forces with on-chain wealth management platform L1 Advisors to launch a product that seeks to blend the security of qualified custody with the control of self-custody, the companies told Blockworks. 

Built for registered investment advisors (RIAs), wealth managers and family offices, financial advisers can now monitor assets in qualified custody or in clients’ self-custodied wallets through the L1 platform.

The advisers can then create custom custody setups for each client based on risk profile, goals and other criteria, according to L1 Advisors CEO Miguel Kudry.

“A client who believes in self-sovereignty and wants exposure to DeFi can be both self-custodied and leverage qualified custody for tax advantaged account types,” Kudry told Blockworks in an email. “At the same time, clients who seek a more balanced risk profile can benefit from the security of qualified custody and only use self-custody as a pass-through to DeFi protocols and products.”

Based on compliance needs of each adviser, some may choose to have discretion over assets in qualified custody, he added. Others might defer all discretion to their clients.

Nick Rygiel, owner and financial adviser at Ironclad Financial, said his firm began its digital asset advisory offering by working with clients who were self-custodied through the L1 platform. 

Those with growing assets under advisement needed a way to add assets into client estate plans, he noted. The new product from Standard Custody and L1 Advisors enables Ironclad to expand to working with digital assets in trusts and other tax-advantaged structures.

“The values of a qualified custodian along with Standard Custody’s access to best execution via escrow allows Ironclad to compliantly check all the boxes for different client appetites,” Rygiel said. 

Crypto custody challenges

A main problem for digital asset custody for RIAs and other wealth managers in the US is that there is not a clear definition of “qualified custody,” according to Adam Blumberg, co-founder of Interaxis. 

“RIAs use custodians to hold assets, and then exercise discretion — basically a Limited Power of Attorney — to affect trades within client accounts on assets held with those custodians,” he told Blockworks.   

The SEC proposed amendments to the so-called “Safeguarding Advisory Client Assets” rule in February — which gained criticism from SEC Commissioner Hester Peirce, a long-time advocate for crypto.

The Blockchain Association argued in a May letter that the requirements would discourage crypto-native custodians from continuing to provide such services.

Read more: Bain Capital Crypto Among 5 Firms Bashing SEC’s Proposed Custody Rule

Crypto custodians also don’t necessarily sync well with traditional custodians, Blumberg said. As an RIA managing client assets, or as a family office, it isn’t seamless to move assets from dollars or equities straight to crypto at a custodian, he noted.  

“There is a conversion to fiat, a wire transfer — which can take a while — and then a purchase of crypto,” Blumberg explained. “Fee-heavy, time intensive and risks along the way.”

Blockchain infrastructure provider PolySign, the parent company of Standard Custody and Trust Company, raised $53 million last year. PolySign CEO Jack McDonald told Blockworks at the time that “a better platform for custody and fund administration” was necessary for institutional investors.

Though a January survey found that a majority of financial advisers plan to maintain or increase their clients’ exposure to crypto, one by Goldman Sachs in May found family offices were not as interested in the asset class.

Digital assets adoption is being driven by the end client and a regulatory focus on safeguarding of assets, according to Matt Wahl, PolySign’s director of business development.

“Each of these clients require a customized approach that only a hybrid of qualified and self-custody can deliver,” he told Blockworks in an email. “This partnership allows advisers to finally deliver a solution for the digital asset client, and it couldn’t be more timely with the largest generational wealth transfer approaching.”


Get the news in your inbox. Explore Blockworks newsletters:

Tags

Upcoming Events

Old Billingsgate

Mon - Wed, October 13 - 15, 2025

Blockworks’ Digital Asset Summit (DAS) will feature conversations between the builders, allocators, and legislators who will shape the trajectory of the digital asset ecosystem in the US and abroad.

Industry City | Brooklyn, NY

TUES - THURS, JUNE 24 - 26, 2025

Permissionless IV serves as the definitive gathering for crypto’s technical founders, developers, and builders to come together and create the future.If you’re ready to shape the future of crypto, Permissionless IV is where it happens.

Brooklyn, NY

SUN - MON, JUN. 22 - 23, 2025

Blockworks and Cracked Labs are teaming up for the third installment of the Permissionless Hackathon, happening June 22–23, 2025 in Brooklyn, NY. This is a 36-hour IRL builder sprint where developers, designers, and creatives ship real projects solving real problems across […]

recent research

Featured.png

Research

Helium stands at a pivotal moment in its evolution as a decentralized wireless network, balancing rapid growth, economic restructuring, and global expansion. With accelerated growth in domestic DAUs and Hotspots supporting its network, Helium is leveraging strategic partnerships and innovative proposals to scale internationally. The recent implementation of HIP 138, “Return to HNT,” has unified its token economy under HNT, simplifying participation and strengthening liquidity, while HIP 139’s phase-out of CBRS refocuses efforts on scalable Wi-Fi offload. Meanwhile, governance shifts under HIP 141 raise questions about centralization as Nova Labs consolidates control over the roadmap.

article-image

Q1 may have been “frustrating,” but things are looking brighter for Q2

article-image

Tokens worth 20% of the current supply of the TRUMP memecoin launched by the president are set to be unlocked tomorrow

article-image

A crypto-industry lawsuit is “moot” now that Joint Resolution 25 has been signed into law

article-image

Fed Chair Powell assured markets that the labor market is in “good place,” dependent on price stability

article-image

As uncertainty reigns, the Philly Fed manufacturing index fell to a multi-year low, but layoffs have slowed

article-image

Base launched two tokens as part of its ethos that everything can be tokenized, but the move sent Crypto Twitter reeling