Custody

Custody is the safeguarding and administration of assets or the credentials controlling them on behalf of an owner or account holder.

A custodian may maintain securities records, hold cash, or control cryptoasset private keys while processing authorized transfers. The legal ownership structure, segregation of client assets, sub-custodians, insurance, recovery procedures, and insolvency treatment determine what protection custody actually provides. Self-managed keys avoid some intermediary exposure but transfer security, backup, and transaction responsibility directly to the user under adverse or failed-provider conditions.