Europe’s largest telecoms company, Deutsche Telekom has chosen Coinbase custody, the cryptocurrency custody solution offered by US exchange firm Coinbase, to hold its Celo tokens.
The telecoms company cited Coinbase Custody’s stringent security protocols as a primary reason for picking the service, according to a press release issued on Monday.
In April, Deutsche Telekom invested in Celo, making it the Celo Alliance for Prosperity’s first telecom member. Apart from making a “large purchase” of Celo tokens, Deutsche Telekom’s T-Systems MMS business has also joined the Celo network as a validator.
Andreessen Horowitz, nicknamed a16z, a venture capital juggernaut based in the United States, has delegated its Celo assets to T-Systems MMS, as previously reported by Cointelegraph.
Katie Haun, the general partner at a16z, noted at the time that both businesses had similar views on the Celo project’s ability to disrupt the global payment market.
Coinbase Custody was chosen by Deutsche Telekom after the latter received approval from Germany’s Federal Financial Supervisory Authority in June.
Following the revelation, Coinbase became the first crypto exchange in the country to be awarded such a license.
Custody has always been a hot topic in discussions about the institutional adoption of cryptocurrency. Regulatory agencies are frequently required by law to hold assets with recognized custodians in several jurisdictions.
Banks and other financial institutions are increasingly utilizing their regulatory status to provide cryptocurrency as their first venture into the industry. This trend is in addition to licensed exchanges like Coinbase and Gemini providing custodial services.
Fintechs and IT firms, in general, are also venturing into the crypto custody market. Twitter and Square CEO Jack Dorsey said in June that the latter was working on a Bitcoin (BTC) hardware wallet.
Given the mature crypto custody industry, big institutional players like retirement funds and sovereign wealth management funds have begun to be onboarded.