Purpose Investments Inc. (“Purpose”), manager of various digital asset ETFs (the “Digital Asset Funds”) became the first digital asset ETF manager in Canada to custody assets of its digital asset ETFs across three independent, institutional-grade sub-custodians, with the appointment of Anchorage Digital Bank N.A., America’s first federally chartered crypto bank, effective as of July 21, 2026. Anchorage Digital joins Coinbase and Gemini, which currently act as sub-custodians to the Digital Asset Funds.
Purpose, Anchorage Digital, and Cidel Trust Company, the custodian of the Digital Asset Funds, have entered into an agreement pursuant to which Anchorage Digital acts as an additional sub-custodian for the Digital Asset Funds.
“Being first to build a three-sub-custodian model in Canada isn’t an accident — it’s an extension of the same segregation-first philosophy we’ve held since we launched the world’s first spot Bitcoin ETF,” said Vlad Tasevski, Chief Innovation Officer at Purpose. “We’re thrilled to work with Anchorage Digital. Their standing as the first federally chartered crypto bank in the U.S. and the rigor they bring to institutional custody make them exactly the kind of provider we want alongside our existing sub-custodians. Diversifying custody risk this way is how institutional-grade digital asset investing should work, and we intend to keep setting that standard for Canadian investors.”
Key Benefits
- Diversified custodial risk: a third qualified sub-custodian adds redundancy across the Digital Asset Funds and reduces the impact of single points of failure.
- Bank-grade oversight: Anchorage Digital Bank operates under the supervision of the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency.
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Proprietary Staking Infrastructure, Paired with Anchorage Custody
Alongside the Anchorage Digital appointment, Purpose continues to operate its own validators for Ether and Solana through Purpose Unlimited Inc., the parent company of Purpose, and its proprietary staking software. Running staking in-house means staking economics accrue directly to unitholders rather than being shared with a third-party operator. This combined structure (in-house staking and institutional grade sub-custodian) is designed to pair direct control over staking rewards with bank-grade custody standards.
“Running our own staking infrastructure means our unitholders keep more of the staking rewards than they would through a third-party staking provider, rather than sharing that value away,” said Paul Pincente, VP of Digital Assets at Purpose. “Pairing that with Anchorage Digital’s institutional-grade custody gives us a combination of direct control and regulated infrastructure that we believe sets a new standard for Canadian digital asset funds.”
“Purpose has been a pioneer in bringing regulated digital asset products to market since launching the world’s first spot Bitcoin ETF, and we’re proud to support that leadership with the same institutional-grade custody standards we bring to our most sophisticated clients globally,” said Nathan McCauley, Co-Founder and CEO, Anchorage Digital. “This partnership reflects a shared commitment to giving investors secure, transparent access to digital assets through infrastructure built for scale.”
Carbon-Offset Program for BTCC.J Brought Fully In-House
Purpose also announced that it has acquired the carbon footprint measurement methodology and supporting software developed by Patch Technologies Inc. (“Patch”), which has powered the carbon-offset program for the carbon-offset units of the Purpose Bitcoin ETF (TSX: BTCC.J) since 2021. Purpose will continue to estimate the emissions with respect to the bitcoin holdings allocable to the carbon-offset units of the Purpose Bitcoin ETF and to purchase and retire verified carbon offsets on the same basis as it has done so since the launch of the carbon-offset units. It’s a continuation of a deliberate pattern at Purpose: don’t rent the infrastructure that matters — own it.
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