The US-based popular crypto exchange Coinbase has announced that one of its four recently launched institutional products, Coinbase Custody, is now officially open for business. Coinbase Custody allows institutional investors to safeguard digital tokens in a manner similar to traditional securities.

Sam McIngvale, Product Lead, Coinbase Custody explained:

"Coinbase Custody is a combination of Coinbase’s battle-tested cold storage for crypto assets, an institutional-grade broker-dealer, and its reporting services, and a comprehensive client coverage program."

Coinbase Custody currently supports Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH), Litecoin (LTC) and Bitcoin Cash (BCH) and is planning to add support for more assets in the future. Some of the features of Coinbase Custody include on-chain segregation of crypto assets, robust cold storage auditing and reporting, multiple layers of security as well as split, offline private keys that require a quorum of geographically distributed agents to use cryptographic hardware to sign transactions.

The exchange already holds more than $20 billion worth of crypto assets in its custody. The offering is secured through an SEC-compliant and FINRA-member independent broker-dealer, Electronic Transaction Clearing (ETC).

The service is currently available in the US and Europe and is expected to come to Asia as well before the end of the year. Coinbase Custody also plans to add secure, segregated hot wallets and scheduled withdrawals to increase the flexibility.

Coinbase has been on the expansion spree. It recently launched an Index Fund for institutional investors who can invest a minimum of $250,000 and up to $20 million. It also unveiled a charity platform GiveCrypto.org and aims to raise $1 billion in the next two years. The exchange is also inching closer towards becoming a fully SEC-regulated broker-dealer after the recent acquisition of Keystone Capital for an undisclosed amount. It even intends to apply for its own federal banking license.