Tetra, Canada’s first qualified custodian for digital assets, is joining forces with Knox to offer Knox’s insured custodial infrastructure to institutional clients. This lays the groundwork for bringing back billions of dollars of digital assets sitting outside Canada
Tetra Trust Company announced a strategic alliance with KNØX Capital Inc. and KNØX Industries Inc., whereby Tetra will offer institutional clients custody services using Knox’s proprietary, insurable custody system, maintained by a qualified Canadian custodian, Tetra. In addition, Tetra Trust will acquire certain assets, facilities and insurance policies currently used by Knox and provide custody services for Knox’s existing Canadian customers.
The demand for custody services in Canada has been growing at an impressive rate as institutional clients further invest in and transact with digital assets. Although Canada’s first exchange-traded fund (ETF) backed by physically settled bitcoin was launched just over a year ago, the total digital assets under management across all Canadian ETF providers already exceed $4 billion CAD. The Canadian market for custody has historically been limited to U.S. providers and unregulated custodians. Tetra and Knox are addressing the pressing need for a made-in-Canada regulated custody provider option.
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Tetra and Knox, two of Canada’s leaders in cryptocurrency custody, will be joining forces to provide the Canadian market with a trusted, best-in-class custody solution offered by a “qualified custodian,” under National Instrument 31-103 Registration Requirements, Exemptions and Ongoing Registrant Obligations and as a “custodian” under National Instrument 81-102 Investment Funds. In addition to being an insured bitcoin custody provider, Knox is the only Canadian custody solution in Canada with a SOC 2 Type 2 certification.
“Tetra is excited to partner with Knox as they have been a Canadian pioneer in Bitcoin custody. The institutional market for a trusted, secure custody provider for cryptocurrency continues to grow and Tetra is uniquely positioned as the first and only trust company licensed to custody digital assets to serve this growing market,” said Eric Richmond, CEO of Tetra Trust.
“Canada has been a leader in Bitcoin’s institutional adoption, but has lagged with respect to qualified custodial services. Partnering with Tetra Trust is an important strategic move for Knox as it will bring our best-in-class insured custody infrastructure to new audiences. This is a big step forward in advancing the adoption of Bitcoin in Canada, and we look forward to serving institutional clients seeking the safest compliant option in the Canadian market,” said Alex Daskalov, CEO of Knox.
Canada’s institutional market and regulatory bodies have been highlighting the need for enhanced custody services in the crypto space and for Canadian-based options to be made available.
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“While Canada has led the way in physically settled crypto products, it has lagged in terms of the availability of domestic Qualified Custody options,” said Elliot Johnson, Chief Investment Officer and Chief Operating Officer at Evolve ETFs. “The emergence of new players in this space is a welcome sign of a maturing ecosystem.”
Alex Tapscott, a long-time commentator and investor in digital assets and Managing Director at Ninepoint Partners LP, added, “A qualified custodian with adequate levels of insurance protection is essential to enable institutions to participate in the crypto market. A domestic solution has the potential to unlock new levels of participation in this fast-growing asset class.”
Doug Schweitzer, Alberta’s Minister of Jobs, Economy and Innovation, continued his strong support for Canadian solutions in the digital assets field and specifically for Alberta to help facilitate such opportunities. “Alberta wants to be the leader for crypto in Canada. Tetra Trust’s partnership with Knox is evidence of Alberta’s leadership in the crypto and blockchain space. We’re excited to have these two industry leaders bringing jobs and best-in-class expertise to Alberta.”
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