Northern Trust, Fidelity join small club managing crypto assets

There are risk questions. “There is an issue that they don't want to put their assets and balance sheets at risk or they have an issue about reputational risk, so they keep things at arm’s length,” said Monica Summerville, head of capital markets at Celent. “So you see things like Fidelity starting a different company and even JPMorgan has separated out some of its blockchain activities now.”

Crypto custody also brings technology challenges, Summerville said.