BitGo Inc., the leader in digital asset financial services, announced today that Bitgate, a Financial Services Agency (FSA) regulated exchange based in Japan, has selected BitGo’s Self-Managed Custody solution to hold their customers’ digital assets securely and meet stringent new regulations.
The regulations, which came into effect as of May 1, 2020, represent a significant change in the way the FSA will oversee cryptocurrency-related business activities of operators in Japan going forward. In its vigilance to comply with the new regulations and to strengthen the protections for investors, known as Japan’s Payment Services Act (PSA), Bitgate has turned to BitGo Inc. for its global experience and battle-tested software solution technology.
Through BitGo’s Self-Managed Custody solution, Bitgate will be able to generate and store its own private keys in house and in country, and use BitGo software products to secure customer assets, meeting the rigorous new FSA requirements.
The Payment Services Act recommends using a reliable and “designated method” — such as the services provided by BitGo’s Self-Managed Custody, for the majority of the digital assets held. If exchanges must use “hot” (i.e., internet-connected) wallets, they are now obligated to hold “the same kind and the same quantities of crypto assets” in order to repay their users in case the hot wallet gets hacked.
“BitGo Inc.’s unique, custom Self-Managed Custody solution was specifically designed for the Asian market and is now trusted by 25% of the FSA licensed exchanges,” said Mike Belshe, CEO, BitGo. “Bitgate is relying on our long-established experience and proven track record to eliminate single points of failure and secure customer assets. Additionally, BitGo’s ability to seamlessly integrate the solution for the client enables them to be fully operational quickly.”
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“Japan continues to lead the way in Virtual Asset (Cryptocurrency) regulation, and Bitgate is in a prime position to offer a compliant and robust platform to its customers. Bitgate is FSA licensed and backed by Daiko Holdings, one of the leading financial markets players in the traditional stock trading space,” Akio Ito, CTO, Daiko Holdings. “Together with Daiko’s expertise, Bitgate’s specialization in the virtual asset space, and BitGo’s security infrastructure, we have a compelling product to offer to investors in Japan.”
With BitGo Self-Managed Custody, clients not only store private keys in their local country, but generate them in their own secure environment independent of BitGo and fully auditable by regulators.
Benefits of BitGo’s Self-Managed Custody:
- BitGo’s battle-tested multi-signature security software solution that complies with FSA rules
- Proven, advanced security configurations utilizing multi-signature technology, processes and policies
- Immediate integration into BitGo’s state of art custody technology at the client site
- Control client and back-up keys in country to fit regulations no matter the jurisdiction
- Key shard auditing capabilities, as well as 24/7 CSV & PDF reporting download capabilities
- Ability to access multiple currencies with BitGo’s simple web UI
- Additional enforcement of User Policies
- Training / Set up / Consultation by BitGo
BitGo pioneered multi-signature security in 2013 and, since then, has become an industry standard for the security of digital wallets. Multi-signature is an open source protocol, and has been through thorough testing and evaluation by the security community. Multi-signature makes use of distinct private keys specifically assigned to individuals for increased accountability, transparency and security not available through other technologies.
