In episode #25 of The Assetizer, we sit down with Maria Steenberg, Head of Digital Asset Custody at Citi, to explore how traditional financial institutions are approaching the challenge of safeguarding digital assets while meeting institutional standards for security and compliance.
Digital asset custody represents one of the most critical infrastructure challenges as traditional finance moves into crypto markets. Unlike traditional securities custody, which benefits from decades of established practices and legal frameworks, digital asset custody requires new technological approaches, different risk models, and novel legal structures.
Key Discussion Points
Maria discusses how Citi's approach to digital asset custody balances security with operational efficiency. The conversation covers topics including multi-signature wallets, cold storage protocols, insurance considerations, and regulatory compliance across different jurisdictions. She also shares insights into how institutional custody differs from retail solutions and why these differences matter for product creation.
The episode also explores the future of unified custody platforms that can handle both traditional and digital assets within a single infrastructure. This convergence is essential for financial institutions that want to offer truly diversified products without maintaining separate operational stacks.
Institutional Perspective
One of the most valuable aspects of this conversation is Maria's perspective on institutional requirements that may not be obvious to those coming from a purely crypto-native background. Topics like audit trails, disaster recovery, fiduciary duty, and regulatory reporting take on different dimensions when dealing with digital assets at institutional scale.