No institution moves into digital assets until it knows who will hold them and what happens to those assets if that custodian fails.
This panel looks at custody as the gating issue for institutional adoption in Malaysia, where licensing is in place but enforcement is still catching up with Hong Kong and Singapore. The panellists see banks entering the space as partners that grow the market, while tokenised assets raise a new test of whether the token matches the record behind it. On safety, they treat insurance as the last line of defence, with segregation and layered key controls doing most of the work.
Key takeaways:
- Banks and crypto-native custodians are more likely to partner than compete, in the same way banks rely on card networks they never built
- With tokenised assets, holding the token does not establish ownership if the on-chain and off-chain records diverge
- Before choosing a custodian, ask whether your assets survive its insolvency, who can move them without your approval, and how access is restored if systems fail
Panellists:
- Angela Ang, Managing Director, APAC, BitGo
- Aaron Thian, Head of Institutional Sales, Asia, Anchorage Digital
- Tan Ji Sheng, CEO, Gambit Custody
Moderator: Vincent Fong, Chief Editor Asia, Fintech News Network
