Ripple Custody

Digital asset custody is the technology and operational framework that secures private keys and governs how institutions hold, move, and safeguard digital assets on a blockchain, including the governance, key management, and controls that banks and fintechs use to safeguard crypto and tokenized assets.

Ripple Custody is an institutional digital asset custody software platform that gives banks, fintechs, and asset managers full control of their private keys. It offers Wallet-as-a-Service for fintechs and Institutional Custody for banks with hot, warm, and cold deployment and HSM or MPC key management.

Self custody means you hold and control your own private keys rather than trusting a third party with them. Ripple Custody enables institutional self custody by keeping keys under customer control while providing the governance and security infrastructure institutions require.

A non-custodial crypto wallet is the tool that enables self custody. It lets individuals store, send, and receive crypto while maintaining full control over their own private keys, rather than handing that control to a third party.

Ripple Custody provides the infrastructure for institutions to offer self-custody digital asset services. Banks can deploy Institutional Custody with their choice of HSM/MPC key management. Fintechs launch branded wallets using Custody Wallets with MPC key management. Both paths keep private keys under your control.

A digital asset custodian is a trusted third party that securely holds and manages digital assets for individuals or institutions, using security measures like multi-party computation (MPC) and hardware security modules (HSMs) so clients don’t manage keys directly.

A hot wallet is connected to the internet for frequent transactions. A cold wallet stores assets offline for long-term security. Ripple Custody supports hot, warm, and cold vaults so institutions can balance accessibility and security based on their operational needs.

A multisig wallet requires multiple private keys to authorize a transaction, each held by a separate device or person. MPC achieves a similar goal by splitting a key into shards distributed across parties that collaborate to sign without ever reconstructing the full key. Ripple Custody uses MPC-TSS, not traditional multisig.

HSM and MPC are two different approaches to securing private keys. An HSM is a physical, tamper-proof device where keys never leave the hardware. MPC splits key generation and signing across multiple parties, so no machine holds the full key, making it flexible but harder to audit. Ripple Custody supports both: HSM for Institutional Custody, MPC-TSS for Custody Wallets.

HSM security uses dedicated tamper-resistant hardware devices to generate, store, and manage cryptographic keys in a physically protected environment. Certification varies by provider, with top options certified to FIPS 140-2 Level 4. Ripple Custody supports HSM-backed key management.