A new report commissioned by Ripple and produced by Boston Consulting Group argues that digital asset custody is no longer just secure storage, but an operational layer that can meaningfully improve bank financial results. The study, titled Beyond Safekeeping: Custody as the Operating Layer Beneath Digital Finance, incorporates perspectives from more than 20 financial institution leaders.
BCG estimates a regional bank with a $200 billion to $300 billion balance sheet could improve financial results by up to $100 million through combined digital asset applications and appropriate custody decisions. The report says institutional custody now covers more than 30% of digital assets outside centralized exchanges.
Security and private key management are becoming baseline requirements, while governance controls, interoperability and integration with existing financial systems are emerging as key priorities. The research highlights that growing bot and artificial intelligence activity makes approval procedures important alongside cryptographic security.
Banks and fintechs are evaluating several custody models, including self-custody technology licensing by large banks, Wallet-as-a-Service for retail and payments fintechs, single-provider models combining custody with settlement, payments, treasury and execution, and multi-custodian orchestration layers. The report links custody to tokenization, stablecoin issuance, payments, lending and collateral management, and expects market consolidation around providers that integrate services or offer modular infrastructure.
Ripple, which provides custody technology alongside stablecoins, payments, treasury management, liquidity and trade execution, shared the findings as the industry watches institutional adoption and regulatory developments across Europe and the United States.
