In response to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s recent investor bulletin on crypto custody, BitGo CEO Mike Belshe positioned his company as the only provider offering all the custody options described by the SEC.
This comes just days after BitGo won regulatory approval to operate as a bank, effectively expanding its institutional services.
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BitGo claims it can do what other crypto managers can’t do
In a post on X (Twitter), Belshe highlighted that the BitGo exchange allows financial institutions to combine self-custody and third-party custody into a single hybrid strategy to create custom risk profiles that cannot be replicated by other providers.
“BitGo stands alone as the only provider of institutional-grade platforms for all SEC-regulated options,” Belshe wrote. “Our clients no longer have to choose between security and control; now they can have both.”
An SEC bulletin published on December 12, 2025 outlines the basics of cryptocurrency custody for retail investors and defines two main models.
Self-custody, where the investor holds the private keys, and third-party custody, where a qualified custodian manages the assets.
While most providers require clients to choose one model, BitGo allows institutions to utilize both models at the same time.
BitGo’s framework allows 90% of customer assets to be stored in BitGo Trust cold storage, meeting regulatory compliance, insurance, and security standards.
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The remaining 10% can reside in a self-custodial hot wallet, allowing for real-time transactions and operational flexibility.
This hybrid approach reduces single points of failure. If you lose your self-custodial key, your assets in the trust remain safe, whereas traditional exchanges run the risk of having all your funds frozen in the event of bankruptcy.
BitGo Bank & Trust, NA, a federally chartered national bank, powers the platform’s third-party custodial solutions. The bank undergoes regular SOC 1 Type 2 and SOC 2 Type 2 audits and supports over 1,400 coins and tokens in segregated accounts backed by a $250 million insurance policy from a Lloyd’s of London syndicate.
According to Belshe, BitGo does not rehypothesize, lend, or commingle customer assets and maintains strict 1:1 custody standards.
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For self-custody, BitGo provides 2-of-3 multisig or MPC threshold security for the wallet. The client keeps two keys and BitGo keeps one for co-signing, allowing policy control without compromising autonomy.
These options, along with third-party trusts, are integrated into a single dashboard, giving clients complete transparency, flexibility, and control across a variety of storage models.
BitGo complies with SEC questions while offering complete custody flexibility
BitGo also answers the seven questions the SEC recommends investors ask when choosing a custodian. These include:
Background verification Asset coverage Storage protocols Asset usage Privacy protection and pricing structure. sponsored
By answering these questions, BitGo demonstrates that financial institutions can manage their crypto assets securely, compliantly, and efficiently.
As regulators increasingly scrutinize the custody of cryptocurrencies, BitGo’s model is setting a new industry benchmark, combining compliance, operational management, and insurance coverage on a unified platform.
Belshe’s claims highlight the growing demand from facilities for both the security of qualified custody and the autonomy of self-custody. Such a combination was previously not available in a single interface.
This claim comes just days after BitGo received conditional approval to become a national trust bank. Others include Ripple, Fidelity Digital Assets, and Paxos.
In a space where asset security and regulatory compliance are often at odds, BitGo’s hybrid model could represent the next evolution in institutional crypto asset management.
