Cowen to Offer Crypto Custody Services Through $25M Stake in PolySign

Investment bank Cowen Inc. said it will offer crypto custody services to hedge funds and asset managers.

• The New York-based firm will provide custody services for cryptocurrencies and other digital assets in partnership with Standard Custody & Trust, a unit of digital asset infrastructure firm PolySign, according to an announcement Thursday.
• As part of the agreement, Cowen took a $25 million stake in PolySign as part of the PolySign's $53 million Series B funding round that Cowen led.
• Cowen was joined in the funding round by London-based crypto wallet provider and exchange Blockchain.com and others.
• As part of Cowen's investment, Dan Charney, a Cowen co-president, and John Holmes, Cowen's chief operating officer, will join PolySign’s board
• Standard Custody & Trust provides PolySign's custody services by virtue of the trust charter granted by the New York Department of Financial Services earlier this month.
• PolySign's leadership team includes CEO Jack McDonald and President and founder Arthur Britto, who previously co-founded Ripple Labs, the company behind the cryptocurrency, XRP.
• Cowen, which was founded in 1918, holds almost $12 billion in assets under management.

See also: UK Asset Manager Baillie Gifford Invests $100M in Blockchain.com