Custody
Secure custody for off-chain assets
All off-chain assets within Nest vaults are held by regulated, institutional-grade custodians with established track records and appropriate regulatory licensing. Custody is a foundational component of any real-world asset (RWA) protocol because it ensures that the underlying assets backing tokenized positions are properly safeguarded and managed under recognized financial frameworks.
Users participating in Nest vaults need confidence that the assets referenced by each strategy actually exist, are securely held, and can be redeemed when required. Nest addresses this by working with established custodians that operate under regulatory oversight and institutional security standards. These partners are responsible for safeguarding the underlying assets, maintaining segregation between client assets and operational funds, and enabling reliable liquidation and settlement when users redeem their vault positions.
Current Custodian Partners
Nest works with several institutional custodians depending on the asset class involved in a given vault strategy.
Coinbase Prime
Entity: Coinbase Custody Trust Company, LLC Jurisdiction: United States (New York) Regulatory Status: New York Trust Company and SEC-recognized qualified custodian
Coinbase Prime provides institutional digital asset custody infrastructure used across multiple Nest vaults. Their services include secure custody of digital assets, trading and execution services for institutional clients, and enterprise-grade security architecture designed to protect client funds. Coinbase Custody Trust Company operates as a regulated trust company in New York and is widely used by institutional investors managing digital asset portfolios.
Anchorage Digital
Entity: Anchorage Digital Bank National Association Jurisdiction: United States Regulatory Status: Federally chartered digital asset bank regulated by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC)
Anchorage Digital provides qualified custody and banking infrastructure for digital assets. As a federally chartered digital asset bank, Anchorage offers custody services designed for institutional clients, including support for staking and governance participation. Certain Nest vaults rely on Anchorage when strategies require institutional custody under a banking framework.
Alpaca Securities
Entity: Alpaca Securities LLC Jurisdiction: United States Regulatory Status: SEC-registered broker-dealer and FINRA/SIPC member
Alpaca Securities provides brokerage and clearing services for regulated financial instruments. Through its API-based brokerage infrastructure, Alpaca supports vault strategies that hold tokenized securities, including exposure to ETF positions through providers such as Dinari.
Custodian Responsibilities
When a vault strategy involves off-chain assets, the asset manager acquires and holds those assets through a designated custodian. The custodian is responsible for safeguarding the positions, maintaining asset segregation, and operating under regulated custody frameworks.
Custodians also provide reporting and verification that allow the underlying assets backing a vault to be monitored. When users redeem their vault positions, the corresponding assets are liquidated through the custodian and the proceeds are returned to the vault.
Custodian Transparency
Nest provides visibility into custodial arrangements across the ecosystem. Vault pages identify the custodians responsible for underlying assets, while asset manager documentation describes the custody structure associated with each strategy. Independent assessments, such as Cicada risk reports, also evaluate custodial risk as part of the due diligence process.
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