Institutional Custody evaluated across who legally holds the assets, what survives the custodian failing, what the insurance actually covers, and pricing you can actually see.
Ranked here: institutional custodians, the legal entities that take and hold a client's assets, for a reader making the asset-holding decision. Not ranked here: custody technology and MPC platforms that hold no client assets, fund share classes, exchange and OTC trading products ranked elsewhere (Coinbase Prime is ranked there too), and custody no one can buy.
#1 of 9 · published ranking
Gemini Custody
80ChainChoice Score
4199
Cost
Not priced· Only 1 of 9 publish a comparable price
Tied for #1 · ordered by unrounded weighted total (44.77 against 44.73)
ReviewedNext review by Published Methodology v2026.11.1
How this page is reviewed
Reviewed means every product ranked on this page was read against its sources on or after that date; every ranked category is re-read at least every 45 days. Models research, extract and parse. A deterministic engine ranks. Every quote passes an adversarial refute pass.
No provider can pay for a position in this table. The code that computes this order cannot read which links carry a referral code, and every build proves it. Every score below rebuilds from the published criteria.Ranking v2026.11.1 · 4 criteria · 9 products · same inputs, same order
How we review · 9 ranked of 16 assessed · 4 criteria · 0 sponsor weight
How we review
9ranked
16assessed
4criteria
0sponsor weight
Recommendation first, comparison only if needed.
Reviewed and rechecked on the current cycle.
Commercial relationships disclosed before clickout.
Personal comparison
Institutional Custody ranked comparison
Only 1 of 9 providers publish a comparable price; ranking still uses verified product evidence.
RankProviderBest fitScore
1
Gemini CustodyGemini Trust Company, LLC — an original...Top ranked
Pre sales price visibility — 9/10Trade-off: The insurance is thinner than the $125M headline reads: the basis (aggregate vs per-c...
80score
Check availability for your country
Gemini Custody · gemini.com. Provider links appear once we know which country you are browsing from: ChainChoice links to providers only where it serves in full.
Commission: This provider pays ChainChoice nothing for this link. Disclosure
Crypto products are high risk. Check the provider is authorised where you live before you deposit.
Tied for #1 · ordered by unrounded weighted total (44.77 against 44.73)
2
BitGoOCC-chartered national trust bank (cond...
Custody legal entity licence — 8/10Trade-off: The product BitGo is famous for is the one its insurance excludes: the $250m policy '...
80score
Check availability for your country
BitGo · bitgo.com. Provider links appear once we know which country you are browsing from: ChainChoice links to providers only where it serves in full.
Commission: This provider pays ChainChoice nothing for this link. Disclosure
Crypto products are high risk. Check the provider is authorised where you live before you deposit.
3
Anchorage DigitalOCC-chartered national trust bank (char...
Custody legal entity licence — 10/10Trade-off: There is no insurance number anywhere — the strongest charter and insolvency paper in...
76score
Check availability for your country
Anchorage Digital · anchorage.com. Provider links appear once we know which country you are browsing from: ChainChoice links to providers only where it serves in full.
Commission: This provider pays ChainChoice nothing for this link. Disclosure
Crypto products are high risk. Check the provider is authorised where you live before you deposit.
Insurance as written — 9/10Trade-off: You are signing into an entity migration you cannot see the end of: the custody book...
71score
Check availability for your country
Zodia Custody · zodia-custody.com. Provider links appear once we know which country you are browsing from: ChainChoice links to providers only where it serves in full.
Commission: This provider pays ChainChoice nothing for this link. Disclosure
Crypto products are high risk. Check the provider is authorised where you live before you deposit.
Custody legal entity licence — 9/10Trade-off: The insurance number disappeared: FY2025 filings — both iShares' 10-K and Coinbase's...
70score
Check availability for your country
Coinbase Prime · coinbase.com. Provider links appear once we know which country you are browsing from: ChainChoice links to providers only where it serves in full.
Commission: This provider pays ChainChoice nothing for this link. Disclosure
Crypto products are high risk. Check the provider is authorised where you live before you deposit.
6
Fidelity Digital AssetsFMR-owned custodian that converted from...
Custody legal entity licence — 8/10Trade-off: The insurance clause the buyer actually signs says the opposite of what the marketing...
68score
Check availability for your country
Fidelity Digital Assets · fidelitydigitalassets.com. Provider links appear once we know which country you are browsing from: ChainChoice links to providers only where it serves in full.
Commission: This provider pays ChainChoice nothing for this link. Disclosure
Crypto products are high risk. Check the provider is authorised where you live before you deposit.
3 more assessed and ranked below — none of them hidden for commercial reasons.
Ranked on 4 published criteria weighted 35/30/20/15, which set goal alignment — 30 of the 86 points. The rest: regional access 20, evidence depth 18 (constant here), ease of use 10 (constant here), institutional trust 8 (constant here). Profile match is shown in breakdowns but carries no weight.
How you can lose money here, and what the ranking scores
Insolvency failure: the firm or issuer that owes you cannot pay.
Scored by If they fail, are the assets still mine — or am I queueing as an unsecured creditor? · 30% (Gemini Custody 8/10, BitGo 8/10, Anchorage Digital 9/10)
Scored by Is the insurance number mine, and does it cover the wallet setup I'll actually run? · 20% (Gemini Custody 6/10, BitGo 7/10, Anchorage Digital 3/10)
Regulatory failure: no licence where you are, or a forced market exit.
Scored by Which legal entity actually takes my assets — and does its licence on the register say it may? · 35% (Gemini Custody 8/10, BitGo 8/10, Anchorage Digital 10/10)
Not assessed by this ranking: Control failure, Liveness failure, Custody failure, Execution failure, Exit failure, Information failure. A high place says nothing about these; the Methodology tab says what each means.
Also scored, as cost, quality or a summary of several families: Can I find out what this costs before I'm inside their sales process? (15%).
Audit
Infrastructure
Methodology
2026.11.1
published 10 November 2026
Providers tracked
860+
across 121 categories
Last verified
29 September 2026
newest dated pricing or sentiment read
Named on the roster
2 people
managing directors · 6 automated processes
Decision guide
What matters most before choosing in this category
Weighted on the custody legal entity and its licence, entity-matched on a public register (35), the insolvency survival mechanism as written in the terms (30), insurance as written — limit basis, exclusions, retentions (20), and pre-sales price visibility (15). The findings are the page: six of nine score 3 or below on insurance once the policy language is read instead of the headline number, and seven of nine will not state a price before the sales call. The tech-versus-custodian split is enforced — a software vendor that never holds assets is scored as what it is. Assets under custody are shown as facts and scored nowhere.
Whose charter actually holds the assets, and can you find it on the register?
If the custodian fails, does the structure make the assets yours — in the terms, not the blog?
What does the insurance cover as written — aggregate or per-client, and with what exclusions?
Current engine lead
The #1 overall and the scoring weights
Gemini CustodyData checked Sep 2026
Gemini Trust Company, LLC — an original 2015 NYDFS limited-purpose trust — with the pool's only true self-serve CUSTODY rate card (0.40% annualized, $30/month/asset minimum) and an insurance stack whose hot-wallet layer is partly self-insured through an affiliated Bermuda captive.
Gemini Trust Company, LLC — an original 2015 NYDFS limited-purpose trust — with the pool's only true self-serve CUSTODY rate card (0.40% annualized, $30/month/asset minimum) and an insurance stack whose hot-wallet layer is partly self-insured through an affiliated Bermuda captive. Strongest on “Can I find out what this costs before I'm inside their sales process?” (9/10): Gemini publishes a custody rate card dated 24 June 2022: 0.4% annualized or $30 per month per asset, whichever is higher, no minimum balance, setup fee waived and a $125 administrative withdrawal fee. It is one flat rate with no volume tiers. Weakest on “Is the insurance number mine, and does it cover the wallet setup I'll actually run?” (6/10): Gemini states $125M of digital asset insurance: $25M of crime cover for its hot wallet, placed partly with Nakamoto, Ltd., an affiliated captive insurer, and $100M of cold-storage cover from third-party carriers. No limit basis, per-client allocation or retention is published. Published price: Gemini's custody fee schedule (https://www.gemini.com/fees/custody-fee-schedule, fetched 29 September 2026; headed "Gemini Custody™ Fee Schedule June 24, 2022"): "Custody Fee 0.4% or $30 per month per asset, whichever is higher starting September 1st 2022" —…
Best forPre sales price visibility — 9/10
Main tradeoffThe insurance is thinner than the $125M headline reads: the basis (aggregate vs per-client) and retentions are published nowhere, the $100M cold-storage line covers a platform that held over $8.4B of assets on 30 June 2026 (Q2 2026 10-Q; about 1.2%) and is HALF the $200M Gemini advertised in 2020, and the hot-wallet crime layer is partly self-insured through Nakamoto, Ltd. — an affiliated Bermuda captive whose capital is, ultimately, group capital, exactly the correlated-failure arrangement a custody buyer is trying to insure against.
Verify before signupGemini's custody fee schedule (https://www.gemini.com/fees/custody-fee-schedule, fetched 29 September 2026; headed "Gemini Custody™ Fee Schedule June 24, 2022"): "Custody Fee 0.4% or $30 per month per asset, whichever is higher starting September 1st 2022" — "Customers will incur the % annualized Custody Fee or minimum monthly fee of $30 per asset type, whichever is higher." — "Minimum Balance None" ("No minimum balance required as long as the minimum monthly charge is paid." "Minimum fee represents Custody balance of roughly $100,000 assuming 0.40% annualized custodial service fee.") — "Setup Fee Waived" — "Administrative Withdrawal Fee $125" ("Withdrawal fees are calculated using the Prevailing Market Price (as defined in our User Agreement).")
Weighted criteria
Which legal entity actually takes my assets — and does its licence on the register say it may?35%
If they fail, are the assets still mine — or am I queueing as an unsecured creditor?30%
Is the insurance number mine, and does it cover the wallet setup I'll actually run?20%
Can I find out what this costs before I'm inside their sales process?15%
Methodology
How this category is reviewed
Ranked on four questions: Which legal entity actually takes my assets — and does its licence on the register say it may? If they fail, are the assets still mine — or am I queueing as an unsecured creditor? Is the insurance number mine, and does it cover the wallet setup I'll actually run? Can I find out what this costs before I'm inside their sales process?
The order on this page is the published ranking for this category. Every criterion, weight and source behind it is on the methodology page.
Frequently asked
Questions people ask before choosing institutional custody
What is the safest custodian?
Safety here comes from the entity and the structure, not the technology. A national trust bank with fiduciary powers, a state trust company and an unregulated software platform are three different answers to 'who holds this', and only the documentation written before a failure decides what you recover.
Does a big insurance number mean I am covered?
Rarely as read. Every published limit in this category is AGGREGATE across the custodian's entire client book, not per client, so a headline figure tells you nothing about your own recovery. What matters is the policy schedule: the limit basis, the self-retention, and whether cold storage is covered or only hot wallets.
Is MPC or cold storage safer?
They fail differently, which is why the technology is shown rather than ranked. MPC removes the single key without removing the operator; cold storage removes the online surface without removing the human process. The scored question is who is legally accountable when either fails.
Reviewed29 September 2026Method4 criteriaCategoryinstitutional_custody
Not financial advice · For informational purposes only · Always do your own research
