Anchorage Digital: Crypto Custody and Services

Anchorage Digital is a financial services provider focused on digital assets and institutional clients. Its core business is custody: holding crypto assets for organizations using systems and controls designed for institutional operations. It also offers services such as staking, trading and settlement, governance, and crypto-as-a-service infrastructure.

The company’s banking entity is Anchorage Digital Bank National Association, a federally chartered institution. That status makes Anchorage distinctive among crypto custodians, but it should not be read as a government endorsement of every product or as a guarantee against loss. Nor does a bank charter mean that crypto holdings are covered by deposit insurance.

Anchorage is not a typical consumer wallet. It is not primarily an app for an individual to buy small amounts of crypto, manage a personal seed phrase, or browse decentralized applications. Its services are built around institutional needs such as controlled access, operational processes and custody arrangements. Whether it suits a particular organization depends on its assets, jurisdiction, risk requirements and contractual terms.

Custody is the safekeeping and administration of assets. For crypto, that involves protecting the private keys that authorize transactions. In a custodial arrangement, the customer’s assets are held through a provider’s custody system; the provider retains control of the keys under the terms of its agreement. This differs from self-custody, where the user holds and protects the keys themselves.

Anchorage’s institutional custody model is intended to combine digital-asset storage with account permissions, transaction controls and operational oversight. Customers should establish exactly how assets are titled and recorded, who can initiate or approve transfers, what procedures apply when staff or signers change, and how the provider handles a withdrawal request. The custody agreement, not a broad product description, sets out the legal and operational details.

Custody reduces some burdens of managing private keys directly, but it creates reliance on a third party. A customer must assess the custodian’s security, controls, financial and operational resilience, and procedures for incidents or disputes. Custody does not eliminate blockchain risks, price volatility, legal uncertainty or the possibility of delays.

The federal charter belongs to Anchorage Digital Bank National Association. It is relevant to the institution’s regulatory framework and the services it is authorized to provide. It does not mean every activity across the wider Anchorage Digital business is a banking activity, and it does not remove the need to examine the specific entity named in a contract.

A key distinction is between crypto custody and fiat custody. Crypto assets are not FDIC-insured deposits. Anchorage has said that fiat custody is provided through an FDIC-insured, licensed sub-custodian. That arrangement is different from Anchorage itself insuring digital assets, and deposit insurance does not automatically cover every balance or every customer in every circumstance. Institutions should ask which legal entity holds fiat, how funds are recorded, and what insurance rules apply to their account.

Anchorage Digital Bank was subject to an OCC consent order in 2025. That regulatory development is relevant when evaluating the bank, but it does not by itself answer how any particular customer’s assets are treated. Review the order and current regulatory disclosures, and ask Anchorage for the status of any obligations that affect the services under consideration.

Anchorage offers institutional staking, allowing eligible customers to participate in proof-of-stake networks while assets are held in a custody framework. Its published service information names Ethereum, Solana, Aptos, Celestia and Sui among supported networks. Supported assets and terms can change, so confirm availability with the provider before planning around a particular token or protocol.

Staking is not the same as a bank deposit or a guaranteed-yield product. Rewards depend on network rules and can vary. Depending on the protocol and service arrangement, assets may be subject to unbonding periods, validator performance risks, penalties such as slashing, or other limitations on access. A custody provider’s controls do not remove these network-level risks.

Before staking, an institution should ask how rewards are calculated and credited, what fees apply, how assets are delegated, whether the customer can choose validators, and how unstaking works. It should also establish who bears losses from operational errors or protocol penalties under the agreement. Compare the staking service’s terms with the institution’s own liquidity, accounting and investment policies rather than relying on a headline reward rate.

Anchorage Digital describes services beyond storage, including crypto trading and settlement, governance support, and crypto-as-a-service. These offerings are designed for institutional workflows. For example, a firm may need to hold assets, transact with counterparties and manage operational approvals within a connected service relationship. The exact products available depend on the client and its agreement.

The company also serves asset managers and ETF-related businesses. Its materials describe custody services for ETF issuers and authorized participants. That role concerns institutional asset safekeeping and related operations; it does not mean that every fund, issuer or exchange-traded product uses Anchorage. An institution should verify the named custodian and service scope in the relevant product documents.

Crypto-as-a-service is aimed at businesses that want to offer crypto-related functionality without building all of the underlying infrastructure themselves. Before adopting it, a firm should map which party handles customer onboarding, asset control, transactions, compliance responsibilities, reporting and support. Marketing terms can cover different service models, so ask for a product-by-product explanation. Do not assume that custody, brokerage, settlement and infrastructure are bundled together or governed by identical terms.

Anchorage is aimed at organizations with institutional custody needs, including asset managers, ETF businesses, funds and financial firms. It may be relevant when an organization wants a third party to safeguard crypto, support staking, or provide related transaction and operational services. Its institutional focus can also mean that onboarding and account setup are more involved than opening a retail exchange account.

It is generally not the right starting point for someone looking for a simple personal wallet, a place to trade a broad range of tokens as a retail customer, or a self-custody app where only the user controls the keys. Those needs call for a different product category. An individual who encounters Anchorage through an investment product should distinguish the product issuer, broker or exchange from the custodian named in the product’s documents.

Organizations considering Anchorage should first define the job they need the provider to perform. Is the requirement cold or online custody, staking, settlement, governance, or infrastructure for a customer-facing service? Then confirm that the relevant Anchorage entity offers that service in the organization’s jurisdiction and can support its assets, transaction volume, governance structure and compliance obligations.

Before signing, read the custody and service agreements for the specific legal entity and account type. Check how assets are held and identified, what rights the customer has, whether assets may be reused or lent, and what happens in insolvency or a dispute. Do not infer these terms from the word “custody” or from the provider’s charter.

Ask for practical detail on controls: who can create and approve withdrawals, whether multiple approvals are required, how allowlists and limits work, how access is revoked, and what support is available during an incident. Establish how assets can be withdrawn, what processing times or restrictions may apply, and how the provider communicates service outages or security events.

Also verify the commercial and regulatory details. Request a complete fee schedule, including custody, transfer, staking and transaction charges. Confirm which assets and networks are supported, how fiat is handled, which entities and sub-custodians are involved, and what insurance actually covers. Review current regulatory disclosures, including the status and relevance of the 2025 OCC consent order. If the agreement is material, have legal, compliance and security teams assess it before onboarding.

A custodian can provide sophisticated controls, but it cannot make crypto risk-free. Digital-asset prices can fall sharply, blockchain networks can experience congestion or software failures, and transactions may be irreversible once confirmed. A service outage, operational error, legal dispute or security incident can also affect access to assets. These risks differ from the risk of losing a seed phrase in self-custody, but they do not disappear.

Institutions should pay attention to counterparty and concentration risk. Holding assets with one provider can create dependence on its systems, staff, legal entities and service continuity. Consider whether the organization needs multiple custodians, independent reconciliation, limits on balances or transaction approvals, and a tested process for moving assets if a provider becomes unavailable. The right controls depend on the organization’s size, obligations and risk tolerance.

Keep a clear record of what is held, where it is held, which entity provides each service, and who within the organization can authorize activity. Treat staking separately from passive custody because network mechanics can affect liquidity and principal. Finally, do not treat marketing descriptions, a bank charter or a security claim as a substitute for contractual review and ongoing oversight.

For an institutional buyer, Anchorage Digital is best understood as a regulated, institution-focused crypto custody provider with related services—not as a personal wallet. Its federal banking charter is an important part of its profile, while its custody, staking, trading and infrastructure services must each be assessed on their own terms. The charter does not insure crypto assets or guarantee uninterrupted access.

A useful evaluation starts with the specific requirement: which assets need custody, which entity must hold them, and whether the organization needs staking, settlement, governance or customer-facing infrastructure. Then compare the contractual protections, operational controls, costs, supported networks and regulatory status against other qualified providers. Check details directly with Anchorage because supported assets, availability and fees may change.

The final decision should reflect the institution’s own legal and compliance review, security assessment and business-continuity plan. If a firm cannot explain who controls the keys, how withdrawals are authorized, how assets are treated in a failure, or what insurance does and does not cover, it should resolve those questions before transferring assets.