Digital currency prime brokerage Genesis has announced that Genesis Custody has received approval from the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) as a registered cryptoasset business.
According to Genesis, the approval signifies that it possesses strong controls, governance and a compliance framework committed to countering financial crime, and that the firm meets the same anti-money laundering standards as other financial institutions under the FCA’s purview.
The approval also positions Genesis Custody as one of the few UK-based crypto custodians that have been approved to continue operating in the UK market.
The firm provides segregated multi-asset cold storage for full custody of client assets.
Private keys belonging to clients are fully segregated and held in Hardware Security Models (HSMs) in deep cold storage in repurposed nuclear bunkers at various locations globally. Client assets are also protected by an insurance policy.
In addition, Genesis Custody offers customers access to portfolio management and execution via Genesis Global Trading, as well as yield generation opportunities via Genesis Global Capital.
“This is an important milestone in our strategy to deliver to institutional clients cryptocurrency services that are compliant with the regulatory framework,” said Arianna Pretto-Sakmann, general counsel at Genesis.
“This approval also reflects our commitment to working with regulators ー at the FCA and elsewhere ー as this asset class evolves. We will continue to do so as we expand our services in the coming months.”
The news of Genesis Custody’s FCA approval follows the firm’s acquisition of London-based digital custody service provider Vo1t in May last year.
Following the acquisition, the firms have integrated Vo1t’s proprietary technology into Genesis’ ecosystem, with the custody solution broadly rolled out in May this year.
Since then, close to 100 custody customers have been onboarded as Genesis’ custody solution continues to grow.