Bitget is giving institutional traders the option to trade on its exchange without keeping the underlying collateral there, the latest sign that crypto markets are adopting a clearer separation between custody and execution.
The exchange has integrated Sygnum Protect, an off-exchange custody platform operated by Swiss-regulated Sygnum Bank. Institutional clients can keep collateral in segregated, bankruptcy-remote custody at Sygnum while a corresponding balance is mirrored to Bitget for spot and derivatives trading. Sygnum Protect
The arrangement does not mean Bitget is moving all customer assets off its balance sheet. It provides an additional custody route for institutional clients that want access to Bitget’s liquidity without maintaining the pledged collateral directly on the exchange.
Bitget is currently ranked fifth among crypto derivatives exchanges by CoinMarketCap, with $4.36 billion in open interest and $9.34 billion in 24-hour derivatives volume at the latest reading. Bitget serves more than 125 million users across 150 markets.
Haruko Attack Highlights a Changing Security Problem
The timing is notable after a cyberattack on London-based institutional crypto infrastructure provider Haruko affected 15 clients.
The attackers gained access to exchange API information and trading data. Some funds were also lost, with smaller hedge funds lacking stronger controls among those affected.
The incident reflects a broader shift in crypto security.
TRM Labs recorded 207 hacks during the first half of 2026, resulting in $972 million of losses. Infrastructure and operational compromises represented just 15% of incidents but accounted for 76% of the value stolen, as attackers targeted credentials, private keys and signing infrastructure rather than only smart-contract code.
Off-exchange custody does not eliminate those risks. But it reduces the amount of trading collateral directly exposed to the failure, insolvency or compromise of an exchange.
What Is Sygnum Protect?
Sygnum Protect lets institutions pledge assets held at the bank and use mirrored balances for trading on connected crypto exchanges.
Client crypto assets and securities can remain off Sygnum’s balance sheet under its Swiss banking structure. Protect also supports collateral including Bitcoin, Ether, stablecoins and yield-bearing instruments such as US Treasuries.
Sygnum launched its off-exchange custody offering with Binance in 2024 and subsequently expanded the network. By September 2025, after integrating Bybit, Sygnum said exchanges connected to Protect already represented more than 50% of global annual spot and derivatives trading volume.
Adoption has also increased sharply. Assets held through Protect grew 900% during 2025 and exceeded $1 billion by March 2026.
“Security and trust are the foundation of institutional adoption, and off-exchange custody now sits at the heart of both,” Bitget CEO Gracy Chen said in a statement shared with AlexaBlockchain.
“Working with Sygnum, our institutional clients can tap Bitget’s liquidity and product depth while their assets stay off our balance sheet, held with a regulated Swiss bank,” Chen added.
Exchanges and Custodians Race to Separate Trading From Assets
Sygnum is competing in a growing market for infrastructure designed to let institutions trade without permanently parking capital on exchanges.
Copper’s ClearLoop uses segregated custody while allowing clients to trade on connected venues. In July, the network processed 45 million trades representing $74.8 billion in notional volume and $2 billion in gross settlements.
BitGo’s Go Network follows a similar model. Assets allocated for trading remain in BitGo’s regulated custody until settlement, limiting the amount of capital directly exposed to participating exchanges. OKX and Gate US are among the venues that have moved to integrate with the network this year.
Binance has developed its own Banking Triparty structure. It said in June that the service had seven banking partners, while an integration with Anchorage Digital allows institutional clients to keep assets in segregated qualified custody while trading on Binance.
The common objective is to address a weakness exposed repeatedly by crypto market failures: trading firms historically had to transfer large pools of capital to an exchange before they could access its liquidity.
That model is becoming less necessary.
The competitive question for institutional traders is not only which exchange offers the best liquidity and execution. It is also where collateral sits, which legal regime protects it, how quickly it can be moved and what happens to those assets if a trading platform fails.
Bitget’s Sygnum integration is another step toward a market structure in which the exchange executes the trade, but does not necessarily hold the assets backing it.
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