A Boston Consulting Group study announced on October 22 argues that custody decisions are fundamental to banks' digital asset strategies, determining which products and services they can offer.
The research, commissioned by Ripple, estimates that more than 30% of digital assets outside centralized exchanges are held through institutional custody models. This figure includes enterprise self-custody and wallet-as-a-service arrangements, which involve varying degrees of control and outsourcing.
Custody as a Product-Design Decision
BCG identifies several custody models and argues that banks may need a combination depending on their intended services. The research emphasizes governance, integration capabilities, and the ability to work across multiple providers.
According to Ripple's account of the findings, large banks are increasingly licensing self-custody technology to build client products, while wallet-as-a-service models are gaining adoption among payment and retail fintechs. The research also highlights demand for unified controls across multiple custodians.
Custody functions as both a security and business-design decision. Different digital asset workflows—such as long-term holdings, collateral movement between venues, or payment settlement—require different approval policies and operational processes despite using similar cryptographic key-management technology.
For example, a bank using stablecoins for payments must establish who can instruct transactions, how transaction limits apply, and how conflicting instructions are handled. These business questions cannot be answered by cryptographic security alone.
Illustrative Financial Modeling
BCG's analysis suggests a regional bank with $200 billion to $300 billion in assets could generate $80 million to $100 million in profit-and-loss upside by combining custody choices with five digital asset use cases. The company notes this is a modeled opportunity, not reported earnings or a forecast applicable to all comparable banks.
The study reflects a commercial interest in the field; Ripple sells custody infrastructure and commissioned the research. US banking regulators issued a joint statement in July 2025 reminding banks that crypto safekeeping must meet existing safety, soundness, and legal requirements.
For banks evaluating tokenized assets, the practical consideration is which controls, integrations, and liabilities accompany proposed revenue streams, with the strongest business cases demonstrating how specific services generate profit after accounting for operating costs and risks.
