Helping institutional investors enter the cryptocurrency space has been the overriding theme of this year’s Consensus conference in New York City — and one such notable announcement is the partnership between Nomura, Ledger, and Global Advisors, who plan on building a secure digital asset custody solution.
Welcome, Institutions
In an effort to provide infrastructure and an operational framework to the overarching investment management industry, Nomura, Ledger, and Global Advisors are partnering to create Komainu — a project aimed at bringing together “the traditional and disruptive worlds of asset custody, paving the way for secure and compliant institutional investment in digital assets.”
According to an official news release, Komainu — which pulls expertise from the realms of “traditional banking, asset administration, fund management, trading, and digital asset security” — will afford institutional investors the ability to “embed or implement a consistent set of best practice standards with their businesses.”
CRYPTO: A major announcement at #consensus2018 that did not seem to get a lot of airtime @LedgerHQ announcing an institutional custody solution in partnership with @Nomura
and @GABIjersey. Addresses a major issue for institutional investors https://t.co/BqAu0JVxWM— Thomas Lee (@fundstrat) May 15, 2018
The custody offering from the three major companies is squarely aimed at solving problems currently keeping institutional investors out of the cryptocurrency marketplace. “With the ten largest digital assets alone reaching a total combined market capitalization of $300bn+,” notes the release, “institutional investors are actively exploring ways to gain exposure to a rapidly emerging asset class.” Jez Mohideen, Global Chief Digital Officer of Wholesale at Nomura, explains:
Global investment managers have long been held back from full participation in digital asset markets, limited by operational and regulatory risk. Our new partnership will set the required standards that will bring peace of mind to digital asset investors, and provide tools and products to enable better integration with more traditional investment vehicles such as mutual funds.
Likewise, Pascal Gauthier, President of Ledger, stated:
Ledger is a well-established security solution provider with over 1 million Nano S hardware wallets sold. The Vault (a secure hardware based key management solution for digital assets) is a natural expansion of our offering, tailored to address the challenges faced by the financial industry. By bringing together financial industry experts and digital asset security leaders, our new venture will provide, for the first time, services and solutions built for business.
Finally, Jean-Marie Mognetti, Co-Principal of Global Advisors Holdings Limited, claimed:
This partnership is a progressive stepping stone towards the creation of the necessary prerequisites for further growth within the digital asset ecosystem. This will open new and exciting opportunities to global participants and contribute to move digital asset closer to mainstream offerings.
What do you think of Ledger’s partnership with Nomura and Global Advisors to facilitate institutional investment into cryptocurrencies? Do you think the herd is coming? Be sure to let us know in the comments below!
Images courtesy of Bitcoinist archives, Twitter/@fundstrat.