Quick answer: In this Digital Fusion Summit session, Joe Medioli of Anchorage Digital discusses what large institutions need before they can hold digital assets at scale: regulated custody, compliance frameworks, and risk management. Anchorage Digital is notable because it holds a national bank charter from the US Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, which places its custody business under federal banking supervision.
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By Jake Claver. Educational content, not investment advice.
The session above features Joe Medioli of Anchorage Digital, speaking at the Digital Fusion Summit. The views in the talk are his and Anchorage Digital’s. This page adds background on the topic so the discussion is easier to follow: what institutional investors actually require to hold digital assets, and why regulated custody sits at the center of that conversation.
Who is speaking
Joe Medioli leads growth and strategy work at Anchorage Digital, a firm that provides custody and financial services for digital assets to institutional clients. Before Anchorage, he advised banks, fintechs, and crypto-native firms on regulatory and licensing strategy. His summit talk focuses on how institutions can access digital assets while meeting the compliance and risk standards they are already held to in traditional markets.
What institutions need that retail buyers do not
An individual can buy crypto through an app in minutes. A pension fund, endowment, or registered adviser cannot. Institutions answer to their own regulators, boards, and auditors, so they need a few things before they can participate: qualified custody that keeps client assets segregated and secure, clear compliance and anti-money-laundering controls, and documented risk management for a volatile asset class. These requirements, more than price, are what have historically kept large pools of capital on the sidelines.
Why regulated custody is the key piece
Custody is the practice of safekeeping assets on a client’s behalf. For digital assets, that means securing private keys, the cryptographic credentials that control the coins, against theft or loss. Anchorage Digital’s distinction is regulatory: in January 2021 the OCC granted it a national trust bank charter, making it the first federally chartered digital asset bank in the US. That charter subjects its custody operations to the same federal banking oversight institutions expect elsewhere, which is why the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency is a relevant authority in any institutional custody discussion.
The broader institutional picture
Regulators have been building out how digital assets fit into existing rules. The Commodity Futures Trading Commission maintains a digital assets resource hub covering derivatives and market oversight, and banking regulators continue to clarify what custody and settlement activities supervised institutions may perform. The direction of travel is toward more defined rules, but the specifics still vary by asset and activity, and institutional participation is uneven rather than uniform.
Why this matters
If large institutions move into digital assets, they do it through regulated custodians, not consumer apps. Understanding the custody, compliance, and risk layer explains why infrastructure firms like Anchorage exist and why their regulatory status gets so much attention. This is background for evaluating the space, not a recommendation about any company or asset.
Common questions
What does a digital asset custodian do?
It safeguards clients’ digital assets, primarily by securing the private keys that control them, and provides supporting services such as settlement, reporting, and governance controls that institutions require.
What makes Anchorage Digital different from a crypto exchange?
Anchorage Digital holds a national trust bank charter from the OCC, so its custody business operates under federal banking supervision. Many exchanges operate under state money-transmitter licenses instead.
Why don’t institutions just buy crypto directly?
They face compliance, custody, and fiduciary obligations that individuals do not. They need regulated custody, documented risk controls, and audit-ready records before they can hold an asset for clients.
Are the views in the video Jake Claver’s?
No. The session presents Joe Medioli of Anchorage Digital. The opinions belong to him and his firm, and this page summarizes the topic rather than endorsing any specific product or provider.
This content is educational only. It is not tax, legal, or investment advice. Check primary sources and speak with a qualified professional before making financial decisions.
Part of our guide: Digital Asset Custody.
