TLDR Bitget has partnered with Sygnum Bank’s Protect custody service for off-exchange asset storage. Trading platforms using Protect now represent over 50% of worldwide spot and derivatives v
Bitget has become the latest major exchange to adopt Sygnum’s Protect custody infrastructure. This arrangement allows institutional market participants to maintain their trading collateral with a licensed Swiss banking institution rather than depositing it directly with the exchange.
News: @bitget Latest Major Crypto Exchange To Partner With Sygnum Bank For Off-Exchange Custody
With Bitget live on Protect, Sygnum’s off-exchange custody platform, member exchanges account for over half of global annual spot and derivatives exchange volumes
— Sygnum Bank (@sygnumofficial) September 24, 2026
Sygnum operates as a fully regulated digital asset bank headquartered in Switzerland. Its Protect service functions as a custody solution designed to maintain client assets separately from exchange balance sheets.
Following Bitget’s integration, the combined trading platforms utilizing Protect now represent more than 50% of total worldwide spot and derivatives market activity. This marks a significant portion of the broader cryptocurrency exchange landscape.
Through this arrangement, institutional traders can execute transactions on Bitget’s platform while their actual capital remains secured within Sygnum’s custody infrastructure. The exchange receives mirrored balances that enable trading functionality without holding the underlying assets.
Client assets maintained by Sygnum benefit from legal segregation under Switzerland’s stringent banking regulations. This structure ensures funds remain completely isolated from Bitget’s corporate financial position.
Should the exchange encounter solvency issues or operational difficulties, assets held within Sygnum’s custody remain protected and legally separate. This creates what industry participants describe as a “bankruptcy-remote” framework.
The custody service accommodates multiple asset categories. Accepted collateral types include bitcoin, ether, various stablecoins, and United States Treasury securities.
Treasury holdings can accrue interest returns while maintained in custody. According to Sygnum, this yield-generating capability distinguishes its banking infrastructure from non-bank custody alternatives.
The Protect platform became operational in April 2024. Throughout 2025, custodied assets experienced explosive growth exceeding 900%, bringing the total value above the billion-dollar threshold.
Sygnum characterizes Protect as the most substantial bank-operated custody infrastructure serving this market segment. Additional exchanges already leveraging the platform include Binance, Deribit, and Bybit.
Thomas Eichenberger, who serves as deputy group chief executive at Sygnum Bank, noted that off-exchange custody arrangements have evolved into essential infrastructure supporting institutional cryptocurrency trading operations.
Gracy Chen, chief executive at Bitget, emphasized that leading exchanges are progressively implementing banking-grade custody solutions. She indicated this approach has become the baseline expectation among institutional market participants.
Bitget provides services to a user base exceeding 125 million individuals distributed across more than 150 nations. The platform ranks among the larger exchanges measured by derivatives trading activity.
Despite expanding its custody capabilities, Bitget is simultaneously retreating from Japanese operations. The company disclosed in August its intention to terminate all services for Japan-based users.
Registration capabilities for Japanese residents ceased immediately following the announcement. Functionality for existing accounts will face progressive restrictions beginning November 1.
The exchange intends to forcibly close all outstanding positions maintained by Japanese account holders by the end of December. This decision arrives after receiving warnings from Japan’s Financial Services Agency.
Regulatory authorities in Japan raised objections regarding unauthorized business operations. Officials additionally requested domestic application distribution platforms to restrict access to specific international exchange applications.
Bitget represents just one of several exchanges implementing this custody framework. Multiple prominent trading platforms have pursued comparable strategies in recent years to segregate customer assets from operational infrastructure.
The transition toward off-exchange custody has unfolded gradually across the industry. Initially, the model attracted primarily risk-averse institutional trading operations seeking enhanced security.
The approach has since matured into a mainstream arrangement among major exchanges. Protect’s substantial expansion over the previous two years illustrates this broader industry evolution.
Bitget’s participation in Protect elevates the platform’s aggregate trading volume representation beyond the 50% global threshold. This positions it among the most extensively adopted custody frameworks operating within the cryptocurrency sector.
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