Bitgo Snaps Up Kingdom Trust, Paving the Way for Custodial Cryptocurrency Offerings

Bitcoin payment specialists Bitgo have announced the acquisition of Kingdom Trust, an investment firm with custody of over $12 billion in assets. The move will enable the South Dakota-based Kingdom Trust Company to offer custodial cryptocurrencies such as bitcoin, ripple, and ethereum to its investors. This will make it easier for traditional investors to enter the lucrative crypto markets without needing to assume responsibility for safeguarding their holdings.

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Bitgo Expands Its Kingdom

Bitgo is the web’s best known cryptocurrency payment processor, responsible for over $10 billion of transactions a month, much of which comes from major bitcoin exchanges. Its purchase of Kingdom Trust is an interesting one for a number of reasons. Two years ago, it would have been hard to envisage a day when a bitcoin company would be acquiring a firm from the world of traditional finance, not least one with 100,000 customers and $12 billion of assets in its care.

Announcing the news, Bitgo CEO Mike Belshe said: “Global financial markets have longed for an end-to-end solution offering both the technology to secure digital currencies as well as the legal and compliance controls necessary to integrate into mainstream financial portfolios…Kingdom Trust has served as a 40 Act qualified custodian for almost a decade and has developed the expertise required by institutional investors necessary for compliance with the Act.”

Double Digit Gains for the 1%?

The move, subject to approval, will suit both parties, enabling Bitgo to grow its brand and tap into a previously inaccessible market, and giving Kingdom Trust a means to ease into the burgeoning world of bitcoin, ethereum and all the rest. As an independent qualified custodian, Kingdom Trust enables registered investment advisors (RIAs) to manage the assets of high-net worth individuals – the 1% in other words. These are the sort of people who have neither the time or inclination to open a Coinbase account, but who are happy for RIAs to make astute investments on their behalf, and right now, crypto is where the money’s at.

Kingdom Trust provides custody solutions for “individual investors, investment sponsors, family offices, advisory firms, broker-dealers and various other investment platforms”. In addition to stocks, bonds, and commodities, those monied individuals now have another item to add to their basket in the form of cryptocurrency.

Do you think bitcoin companies buying up traditional finance companies is likely to become a trend? Let us know in the comments section below.

Images courtesy of Shutterstock, and Bitgo.

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