New York, NY, October 5th, 2021 — MetaMask’s 10 Million MAUs across the globe use the wallet to access the decentralized web where they swap, borrow, stake, lend, mint NFTs, buy NFTs, and much more. MetaMask Institutional (MMI) was created in December 2020 by Consensys to address large numbers of leading crypto funds, market-makers, and trading desks seeking to increase exposure to DeFi. These organizations struggle to do so because operating at such a scale often necessitates heightened security, operational, and compliance requirements.

MMI solves this problem by providing investors with full access to DeFi and Web3 that satisfies even the most rigorous of institutional requirements.

Today, MMI announces strategic partnerships with leading custodians BitGo, Qredo, and Cactus Custody™. This is a crucial milestone to allow organizations to leverage leading custody solutions in order to seamlessly discover and interact with DeFi. Each of these strategic partnerships respond to different needs of organizations, from small crypto startups and DAOs to multi-billion dollar crypto funds.

The importance of alternative custody solutions 

The Ethereum DeFi ecosystem is vastly different compared to two years ago. Today, Ethereum supports a flourishing DeFi ecosystem with $80 billion in value locked in smart contracts, up from $20 billion a year ago. Interest from organizations to participate in the DeFi ecosystem has been rising.

However, organizations are often subject to rigorous requirements in order to meet they are acting in compliance with regulations and are properly safeguarding their clients’ assets. 

Custody plays a fundamental role in accessing Crypto and DeFi. Custodians store private keys and approve and sign transactions. They are paramount to organizations safely acquiring and holding crypto assets. They interact directly with brokers and exchanges to facilitate transactions for organizational stakeholders. 

“MetaMask Institutional’s focus is to provide unrivaled access to DeFi even in the face of rigorous institutional requirements. Qualified custodians and custody technology play a fundamental part in these requirements. We could not be more delighted to partner with these three great firms all offering world class capabilities for different segments of the market,” explains Johann Bornman, Product Lead for MMI.

Leading custodians provide flexibility to meet the needs of all organizations 

Organizational requirements vary depending on where in the market an organization sits. While Multi-Party Computation (MPC) allows for multiple parties to hold parts of a key, qualified custodians own the fiduciary responsibilities that go with storing private keys. This multi stakeholder partnership aims to provide MMI users with a wide-variety of solutions that meet all variations of institutional requirements.

  • BitGo is a global leader in custody and security solutions with over $40B in assets under custody. Founded in 2013, BitGo pioneered the multi-signature wallet and is the first digital asset company to focus exclusively on serving institutional clients. BitGo secures approximately 20% of all on-chain Bitcoin transactions by value and supports more than 400 digital assets within its platform. BitGo provides the security and operational backbone for more than 500 institutional clients in 50 countries, including many regulated entities and the world’s top cryptocurrency exchanges and platforms.

  • Qredo offers decentralised crypto custody secured by Multi-Party Computation (MPC) - an advanced cryptographic technique that removes the operational risk around private keys. Qredo supports institutions—from small-cap crypto funds to global asset managers—that are very active in their DeFi yield farming. Its Layer 2 blockchain also enables seamless, low-cost access to a growing ecosystem of cross-chain trading and liquidity opportunities.

  • Cactus Custody™ is a trust company based in Hong Kong with over USD10 billion in assets under custody. It is the third-party institutional custody service provided by Matrixport, Asia’s fastest growing digital assets financial services platform. Cactus Custody™ offers cold and warm storage, enterprise crypto management features, and DeFi connectivity for miners, corporates, funds and projects.

“As the DeFi ecosystem matures, many of our institutional clients are interested in actively participating,” said Mike Belshe, CEO, BitGo. “MetaMask is the gold standard of DeFi wallets and the integration of MetaMask Institutional with BitGo wallets allows for key management and custom policies to remain in BitGo, while MMI acts as an interface between our wallet platform and all dapps. We at BitGo support the vision to provide world class institutional-grade DeFi solutions to large financial institutions around the world.”

MMI will continue to respond to the unique and varied needs of organizations, and will soon be announcing the integration of additional custodians.

Media contact: [email protected] 



About Consensys

Consensys is the leading Ethereum software company. We enable developers, enterprises, and people worldwide to build next-generation applications, launch modern financial infrastructure, and access the decentralized web. Our product suite, composed of Infura, Quorum, Codefi, MetaMask and Diligence, serves millions of users, supports billions of blockchain-based queries for our clients, and has handled billions of dollars in digital assets. Ethereum is the largest programmable blockchain in the world, leading in business adoption, developer community, and DeFi activity. On this trusted, open source foundation, we are building the digital economy of tomorrow. To explore our products and solutions, visit https://consensys.io.

About BitGo

BitGo is the leader in digital asset financial services, providing institutional investors with liquidity, custody, and security solutions with over $40B in assets under custody. Founded in 2013, BitGo pioneered the multi-signature wallet and is the first digital asset company to focus exclusively on serving institutional clients.  Active in both centralized and decentralized finance, BitGo offers market leading trading, lending, and borrowing services through its prime brokerage services and acts as the custodian for WBTC, with more than $10 billion in custody and circulation. In 2020, BitGo launched BitGo Portfolio and Tax, providing clients with a full-stack solution for digital assets. In 2018, it launched BitGo Trust Company, the first qualified custodian purpose-built for storing digital assets. BitGo processes approximately 20% of all global Bitcoin transactions, and supports over 400 coins and tokens. BitGo provides the security and operational backbone for more than 500 institutional clients in 50 countries, including many regulated entities and the world’s top cryptocurrency exchanges and platforms. BitGo is backed by Goldman Sachs, Craft Ventures, Digital Currency Group, DRW, Galaxy Digital Ventures, Redpoint Ventures, and Valor Equity Partners.

About Qredo

Qredo is a decentralized digital asset management infrastructure and product suite designed to unlock new opportunities for institutional investors in digital assets and decentralized finance. Qredo's Layer 2 blockchain protocol enables users to seamlessly transfer and settle BTC, ETH, and ERC-20 tokens. Assets are secured by Qredo’s advanced Gen 2.0 multi-party computation (MPC), which provides tier-1 bank security and institutional-grade governance.

About Cactus Custody™

Cactus Custody™ is the third-party institutional custody service provided by Matrixport, Asia’s fastest growing digital assets financial services platform. It is a qualified custodian and a Hong Kong Trust Company that meets the capital reserve requirement and acts within regulatory and AML guidelines. Besides Bank-grade security, Cactus Custody™ offers powerful and flexible enterprise crypto management functions that make day-to-day operations hassle-free and risk-free. The company safeguards over USD 10 billion for 60+ clients. Clients can also access spot trading and earn interest by lending out their assets within Cactus Custody™