Korea Digital Asset Custody

What Korea Digital Asset Custody does

Korea Digital Asset Custody Co., Ltd. (KDAC) is a Seoul-based, privately held digital asset custodian founded in 2021 to provide institutional-grade safekeeping and related services to Korean government entities, funds, listed companies, general corporations, and foundations. The company operates a four-module platform spanning custody, staking, OTC trading, and digital-asset-backed financing, with custody positioned as the core product. Its security architecture layers air-gapped cold storage, hardware security modules (HSM), multi-signature key management, and multi-party computation (MPC), and the company has secured VASP registration, ISMS certification, and — in 2024 — SOC 1 Type 2 certification, making it the only Korean custody provider to hold the latter. The customer base is unusually broad for a 1-10 person team and includes LG Electronics, Hyundai Motor, SK Telecom, Shinsegae, Nexon Korea, Netmarble, SM Entertainment, Bitmex, and DAXA, among others.

KDAC's business model combines recurring subscription revenue from custody and staking with transaction-based fees from OTC block-deal intermediation, escrow settlement, smart-order-routing execution, and digital-asset-backed lending. Pricing is quote-based rather than published, consistent with enterprise sales. The company's go-to-market is direct enterprise sales into Korean institutional and corporate clients, with distribution reinforced by a shareholder base that includes two commercial banks (the only Korean custody provider with this structure) and, following a 2025-11 financing, financial groups such as Shinhan Financial Group, NongHyup Financial Group, and NH Investment & Securities. KDAC carries USD 20 million in compensation insurance coverage and reports a zero-incident track record over four years of operations.

The company's competitive position rests on regulatory credentials, bank-backing, and a multi-layer security stack, which together create meaningful switching costs for institutional clients. Constraints include an exceptionally small operating team relative to the breadth of named customers, no disclosed revenue or AUM, undisclosed funding amounts, and a geographic footprint limited to South Korea with no stated international expansion. The data also shows no AI/ML capabilities, no acquired companies, and no headcount expansion signals.

Name

Korea Digital Asset Custody

Legal name

주식회사 한국디지털자산수탁 (Korea Digital Asset Custody Co., Ltd.)

Website

https://kdac.io

Company type

Private

Founded year

2021

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

KDAC is a Seoul-based, privately held digital asset custodian serving Korean institutional and corporate clients with custody, staking, OTC trading, and financing services. It holds VASP, ISMS, and the only Korean SOC 1 Type 2 certification, and counts major Korean enterprises among its customers.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Digital Asset Custody

NAICS

Trust, Fiduciary, and Custody Activities (523991), Financial Transactions Processing, Reserve, and Clearinghouse Activities (522320)

SIC

Security & Commodity Brokers, Dealers, Exchanges & Services (6200), Finance Services (6199)

akta.pro primary industry

Digital Asset Custody (Institutional Crypto Custody) (FSAFAHAH)

akta.pro secondary industries

Custody Technology Platforms (Custody-as-a-Service) (FSADACAB), Crypto Custody & Exchange Wallet Services (Integrated) (FSADAAAG), Institutional Qualified Custody (Banks/Trust Companies) (FSADACAA), Digital Asset Custody & Tokenization Servicing (FSAAAOAO), KYC/KYB Identity Verification & Onboarding (FSADALAA)

Keywords

• Digital asset custody
• Cryptocurrency custody services
• Institutional crypto custody
• Digital asset staking
• Blockchain custody solutions

Headquarters

HQ city

Seoul

HQ country

South Korea

HQ region

Asia

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Supply Chain

Revenue model

1. Custody Services: Digital asset custody services for institutional clients including government entities, funds, listed companies, general corporations, and foundations. Supports major networks including BTC, ETH, KAIA, POLYGON, SOL, BNB, APTOS, PCI, TRON with additional networks planned.
2. Staking Services: Staking services with self-operated nodes for validating. Customers can earn staking rewards on supported assets.
3. Trading Services: OTC block deal trading intermediary services, escrow for transaction payments, and optimal price discovery through SOR with split trading capabilities.
4. Financing Services: Digital asset-backed lending and securities lending intermediary services.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels1 record

Core offering

Korea Digital Asset Custody (KDAC) provides institutional-grade digital asset custody services for major blockchain networks including Bitcoin, Ethereum, Kaia, Polygon, Solana, BNB, Aptos, Paycoin, and Tron. The company serves government and public institutions, funds, listed companies, general corporations, and foundations through four integrated service modules: Custody (secure storage with multi-layer security), Staking (self-operated validating nodes), Trading (OTC block deals, escrow, and SOR-based optimal execution), and Financing (digital asset-backed lending and securities lending intermediation). All services are delivered under Korean VASP registration, ISMS certification, and SOC 1 Type 2 certification, supported by USD 20 million in compensation insurance.

Product overview

KDAC offers a unified digital asset custody platform with four integrated service modules: Custody (core secure storage for major blockchain networks), Staking (self-operated validating nodes for network rewards), Trading (OTC block deals, escrow, and SOR-based optimal execution), and Financing (digital asset-backed lending and securities lending). The platform serves diverse customer segments including government/public institutions, funds, listed companies, and foundations, providing comprehensive coverage from asset safekeeping to financing across the entire digital asset lifecycle.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Custody (커스터디) Institutional-grade digital asset custody providing secure storage for major cryptocurrencies including Bitcoin, Ethereum, Kaia, Polygon, Solana, BNB, Aptos, Paycoin, and Tron, with additional networks planned. Built on air-gapped cold storage, HSM, multi-signature key management, and MPC. Supports customer types including government/public institutions, funds, listed companies, general corporations, and foundations.
• Staking (스테이킹)

Quantifiable outcome

• Zero incident rate over 4 years of operations
• +1 more outcomes

Named customers23 records

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles5 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration1 record

Feature6 records

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Emerging players

• Fireblocks: MPC-based custody infrastructure provider serving exchanges, custodians, and institutional trading desks. Overlaps with KDAC's MPC architecture and institutional client base, though Fireblocks is custody-tech rather than a custodian of record.

Broad incumbents

• Fidelity Digital Assets: Institutional crypto custody and trading arm of Fidelity Investments, serving hedge funds, pensions, and family offices. A broader incumbent whose scale and balance sheet represent the upper-bound competitor to KDAC's enterprise segment.
• Cumberland (DRW): Principal trading firm and OTC liquidity provider in digital assets, offering integrated custody and trading services to institutions. Comparable on the OTC trading and institutional financing modules of KDAC's offering.

Direct peers

• Komainu (Ledger/Nomura/Coinsquare JV): Institutional digital asset custodian backed by Nomura, targeting Asian institutional clients with segregated cold storage and governance-grade controls — the closest Asia-regional analog to KDAC's value proposition.
• Anchorage Digital: US-chartered digital asset bank offering institutional custody, staking, and trading. Competes on regulated custody depth and serves institutional clients similar to KDAC's chaebol and fund segments.
• BitGo: Largest independent institutional digital asset custodian globally, offering cold storage, multi-sig, and staking across 700+ tokens. Direct competitor for KDAC's institutional Korean clients who may also hold assets overseas.
• Hex Trust: Asia-headquartered institutional digital asset custodian licensed in Hong Kong, Singapore, and Dubai, offering custody, staking, and financing. Highly comparable on regulated custody stack and Asian institutional focus.
• Coinbase Institutional (Coinbase Custody Trust): US-regulated qualified custodian providing institutional crypto custody and staking. Comparable in regulatory posture (SOC 1/2, insurance) and target institutional client base; a likely entrant into Korea.
• Gemini Trust Company (Gemini Custody): US NYDFS-regulated qualified custodian offering cold storage and insurance-backed institutional custody. Comparable regulatory-first positioning and institutional target market as KDAC.

Regional players

• ProBit (or Korbit/Upbit custody arms): Korean and Korean-adjacent virtual asset exchanges with internal custody operations. Represents the local competitive set KDAC must outcompete on regulatory rigor (SOC 1 Type 2) and bank-shareholder signaling to win enterprise mandates.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat6 records

Key risks7 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/kdac

Compliance3 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles5 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds3 records

Investors10 records

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Korea Digital Asset Custody