Zodia Custody and Securitize join forces

London, UK— 26 November 2024—Zodia Custody, a leading institution-first digital asset custodian, whose shareholders include Standard Chartered, SBI Holdings, Northern Trust, and National Australia Bank, has forged a partnership with Securitize, the leader in tokenising real-world assets.

The partnership between the two firms is to increase support and create more opportunities for institutional investors, taking advantage of tangible use cases related to real-world asset tokenisation. Zodia Custody will leverage Securitize’s cutting-edge technology to increase custody support for asset owners who hold digital assets such as BlackRock USD Institutional Digital Liquidity Fund (“BUIDL”), tokenised by Securitize.

The additional custody support for BUIDL tokens aims to provide asset owners with greater safeguarding via the unique bank-grade, segregated and compliant cold storage custody solution provided by Zodia Custody.

“Tokenisation is rapidly reshaping the landscape of institutional finance, offering new opportunities for efficiency and investor access,” said Carlos Domingo, Co-founder & CEO of Securitize. “Our partnership with Zodia Custody extends secure and compliant custody solutions to institutional investors, allowing them to access tokenised assets like BlackRock’s BUIDL. Together, we’re bridging traditional finance and digital assets, providing infrastructure that institutions need to confidently engage in this transformative market.”

The partnership comes as viable use cases for tokenisation take hold of both traditional finance and digital asset circles.

While cryptocurrencies are projected to exceed a market capitalisation of $4.5 trillion by 2028, the estimates for use cases involving the mainstream adoption of tokenised real world assets are projected to substantially outgrow that figure. With USD stablecoins currently dominating use cases involving tokenised assets on public blockchains, many across both the TradFi sector and more digitally-native firms are innovating with new products anchored to diverse real-world assets; from debt instruments to real estate funds.

This potential is demonstrated through BlackRock’s BUIDL. Since its launch in March 2024, the fund has grown to nearly $530M in assets under management (as of 31 October 2024) — demonstrating both the appetite and value in tokenised assets.

“BUIDL’s sharp rise and adoption easily shows the opportunities that tokenised assets can offer. More importantly, it also demonstrates the transformative potential that tokenisation presents institutions and digital asset-native businesses alike,” said Julian Sawyer, CEO, Zodia Custody. “Together with Securitize, we will innovate the intersection of traditional finance and digitally-native services, delivering greater opportunities to investors—safely, securely, and without compromise.”

Beyond support for existing tokenised assets, the digital asset custodian is also exploring further opportunities to innovate custody solutions across a variety of tokenisation use-cases.