Binance and Anchorage Digital Launch Off-Exchange Settlement for Institutional Traders

Binance and Anchorage Digital launched an off-exchange settlement integration, letting institutional traders access Binance's liquidity while keeping their assets in Anchorage's custody rather than on the exchange itself. The service runs on Atlas, Anchorage's settlement infrastructure suite.

The integration mirrors how traditional finance separates custody from execution: assets stay with a regulated custodian and move only at final settlement, never sitting on the exchange's balance sheet. Anchorage Digital, the first federally chartered crypto bank in the US, said institutions can pledge crypto, USD cash equivalents, and select tokenized real-world assets as collateral, naming BlackRock's BUIDL, Circle's USYC and Franklin Templeton's iBENJI fund as eligible types. Binance, the world's largest crypto exchange by trading volume, confirmed the tie-up in a joint press release distributed via PRNewswire.

"Institutions need crypto market structure that reflects the standards they already rely on in traditional finance," Nathan McCauley, co-founder and CEO of Anchorage Digital, said in the announcement. "Off-Exchange Settlement, powered by Atlas, is designed to separate custody from execution, helping institutions access exchange liquidity while keeping assets in secure custody."

Catherine Chen, Binance's head of VIP and institutional, said the integration gives institutional clients "another way to access Binance liquidity while managing custody and collateral through a model that is more familiar to traditional financial markets," according to the PRNewswire release. Binance CEO Richard Teng framed the launch around the same shift, writing on X that institutional crypto trading is moving toward the separated custody-and-execution model traditional finance has used for decades.

Triparty Banking Push

Binance piloted triparty banking arrangements in 2023 and has since built a network of banking and custody partners for institutional off-exchange settlement, according to the PRNewswire release. The exchange already runs a comparable arrangement with Ceffu's MirrorX, its in-house custody affiliate.

The integration is the first live use of Off-Exchange Settlement within Atlas, which Anchorage designed to span trading, lending and collateral management. The Defiant reported in June that Anchorage was already extending Atlas into non-custodial DeFi venues including Hyperliquid, Lighter and Aave. Anchorage also serves as collateral manager for Ethena's institutional lending book.

Custody Without Prefunding

Off-exchange settlement products have proliferated as institutions push back on prefunding exchange accounts, with Copper's ClearLoop and Fireblocks' Off Exchange offering comparable custody-separated models. Anchorage's pitch rests on its 2021 OCC trust charter, which subjects it to federal bank-grade capital and audit standards.

Anchorage was valued at $4.2 billion following a Tether-led $100 million Series E round in February, The Defiant reported at the time.