BNY Mellon Surpasses Fidelity in Institutional Bitcoin Custody

BNY Mellon has surpassed Fidelity in institutional Bitcoin custody, according to recent data. This shift marks the end of Coinbase's era of dominance in the space. BNY Mellon launched its digital asset custody platform in early 2026 and has since integrated cold storage capabilities that exceed those of Fidelity Digital Assets.

BNY Mellon now manages a significant portion of U.S. spot Bitcoin ETF assets, with approximately $77 billion out of the total $91.7 billion. This concentration had created risks for the industry, particularly after the SEC's rescission of Staff Accounting Bulletin 121 in January 2025 and its replacement with SAB 122.

The new standard allows large banks to assess crypto custody risks using standard FASB contingency frameworks instead of the punitive balance-sheet treatment that previously made bank-held crypto custody prohibitively expensive. Morgan Stanley filed for a National Trust Bank Charter in February 2026 to address these same concentration risks, and BlackRock's iShares Bitcoin Trust added Anchorage Digital Bank as a second custodian in April 2025 to diversify its holdings.

BNY Mellon's scale may eventually force the remaining 16% of ETF assets away from Coinbase. The bank uses individual crypto wallets to ensure customer assets stay segregated from the bank's assets during insolvency, a structure developed with the SEC's Office of the Chief Accountant.