Bitget Partners with Sygnum to Offer Off-Exchange Custody for Institutional Clients

Bitget and Sygnum Bank have partnered to address concerns around institutional crypto trading collateral. The two companies announced that Bitget's institutional clients can now hold their collateral through Sygnum Protect, an off-exchange custody platform governed by Swiss law.

The assets are moved into segregated, bankruptcy-remote accounts where they remain insulated from exchange insolvency risks. This means the exchange sees the collateral for trading purposes but cannot commingle it with its own funds or creditors' claims.

Bitget CEO Gracy Chen noted that institutional clients now expect off-exchange custody as a baseline condition for participation, not a premium feature. The expectation has become central to institutional adoption in the cryptocurrency sector.

Sygnum Protect accepts Bitcoin, Ethereum, stablecoins, and yield-bearing US Treasuries as collateral. The assets earn yield while sitting idle, effectively offsetting the operational cost of holding collateral.

The platform launched in April 2024 and has seen significant growth, with assets under custody increasing by more than 900% to over $1 billion by the end of 2025. Bitget joins a roster that already includes Binance, Deribit, and Bybit, representing more than half of global spot and derivatives trading volumes.

This shift signals a move towards institutional adoption of off-exchange custody, with the model working like a brokerage prime service where the custodian holds assets and the exchange gets a mirror of the position for live trading purposes.