Custody Solutions
Custody is a legal construct, not a technical one. The same MPC, multisig, HSM, or TEE infrastructure can underpin self-custody, third-party custody, or a hybrid setup, and the choice has direct consequences for security, regulatory standing, and recoverability.
This report breaks the decision into three independent dimensions: who controls the keys, how the keys are protected, and how the layers fit together, with a decision framework for corporate treasury, fund managers, exchanges, protocols, and DAOs operating with digital assets.
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About the report
Custody Solutions is a chain-agnostic report covering the four custody models (self, third-party, exchange, and hybrid), six key management technologies (EOA, multisig, MPC, HSM, TEE, and smart contract wallets), and the institutional stack that layers them.
It's written for practitioners making real custody decisions: corporate treasury teams holding stablecoins for cross-border and supplier payments, fund and asset managers under qualified-custodian and LP-insurance requirements, exchanges and lending protocols managing hot, warm, and cold layers, DeFi teams designing onchain governance and treasury controls, and DAOs operating multi-million dollar treasuries through Safe, Squads, or native multisig.
The analysis draws on published 2024 industry loss data, Trail of Bits' maturity framework, primary documentation from Fireblocks, Turnkey, Safe, Ledger Enterprise, and others, and recent incident post-mortems including the $285M Drift Protocol hack and the September 2025 npm supply chain attack. Regulatory framing covers MiCA, the SAB 121 repeal, and US qualified custodian rules.
Inside the report
- 01Four custody models examined: self, third-party, exchange, and hybrid.
- 02Six key management technologies analyzed: EOA, multisig, MPC, HSM, TEE, and smart contract wallets.
- 03The institutional stack: defense in depth, with hot, warm, and cold layering across mature setups.
- 04Hybrid configurations are emerging as the dominant institutional pattern by 2026.
- 05Use-case analysis for corporate treasuries, fund managers, exchanges, protocols, and DAOs.
- 06Recent incident post-mortems incorporated: Drift Protocol, Bybit, and Radiant Capital.
- 07Regulatory frameworks covered: MiCA, the SAB 121 repeal, and US qualified custodian rules.
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The same onchain intelligence behind this report powers Range in production: unified treasury visibility, automated compliance, and real-time threat detection.
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