Zodia Custody to Provide Institutional Support and Custody Services for the Polkadot Ecosystem

• Parity and Zodia Custody to facilitate seamless institutional access to the Polkadot ecosystem, offering compliant custody and secure staking
• Zodia Custody to aid in developing the Polkadot ecosystem’s institutional adoption via collaborative research and development initiatives

Zodia Custody announces long-term strategic partnership with Parity Technologies, a leading contributor to Polkadot. The partnership will enable institutional access to the Polkadot ecosystem and in the longer term, broaden the Polkadot ecosystem’s institutional adoption via joint research and development initiatives.

The partnership’s first major implementation will see Zodia Custody provide custody services for the Polkadot ecosystem, enabling secure market access and bank-grade digital asset custody services for financial institutions. With respect to its activities in crypto assets and as a VASP, Zodia Custody is registered with the UK’s FCA, Ireland’s CBI and Luxembourg’s CSSF per each jurisdiction’s money laundering requirements. As a result, institutions are able to operate with higher levels of regulatory compliance and within a framework of enhanced security on a registered platform.

The next stage of the partnership will also enable financial institutions to stake DOT, the native token of Polkadot, whilst assets are held safely in cold storage within Zodia Custody, thereby broadening the reach of participation in the Polkadot ecosystem to institutions. The service has been designed to be as frictionless as possible and widen contribution to secure the decentralized Polkadot network.

“The gap between the world of digital assets and traditional finance is coming together, but strategic partnerships such as this one will help bridge that gap at scale,” said Julian Sawyer, CEO of Zodia Custody. “This partnership with Parity is essential to the future of this ecosystem by enabling future institutional participation. Together, we’re making Polkadot’s technology more accessible for institutions, while also bringing all the regulatory, governance, and security expertise we have as a bank-owned and registered entity.”

“This collaboration with Zodia Custody is a win-win,” said Björn Wagner, CEO of Parity Technologies. “It will allow financial institutions to actively participate in the Web3 future being built on Polkadot, and will also help the Polkadot ecosystem to engage directly with institutions. By tapping into Zodia Custody’s deep expertise as leaders in the digital asset custody space, this relationship will undoubtedly boost innovation, participation, and adoption across Polkadot.”

Zodia Custody’s work with Parity will also see the digital asset custodian support the long term evolution and growth of the Polkadot ecosystem. This includes educating institutions about Polkadot technology via cross-collaboration research and development. Zodia Custody will also support various Parity and Polkadot global initiatives.