TL;DR
- BNY Partnership: BNY has partnered with Figment to add staking capabilities to its Digital Asset Custody platform for eligible institutional clients.
- Staking Access: Banking clients will initially be able to stake ETH, with SOL expected later, allowing reward generation through existing custody workflows.
- Institutional Focus: The bank is expanding its digital asset strategy as Figment contributes validator infrastructure and experience serving more than 1,500 institutional customers.
BNY is expanding its digital asset services through a new partnership with Figment, bringing staking capabilities to its Digital Asset Custody platform. The move will allow eligible institutional clients to earn staking rewards on supported cryptocurrencies without leaving their existing custody framework. The announcement reflects growing institutional interest in staking and highlights how major financial firms are broadening their digital asset offerings beyond simple custody services.
BNY Expands Digital Asset Services With Staking
Under the agreement, BNY will integrate Figment’s validator infrastructure into its Digital Asset Custody platform. The service is designed for institutions including asset managers, exchange-traded fund issuers, corporates, and wealth management firms. Eligible clients will be able to stake supported assets directly through the custody platform and earn staking rewards.
According to Figment, ETH will be the first supported asset, with SOL expected to follow. The companies did not provide a launch date for the new offering. Ralf Roth, Head of Digital Asset Custody, said institutional demand is evolving beyond simple access to staking services. He noted that delivering staking within a trusted custody environment can provide clients with the security, oversight, and accountability they expect when participating in digital asset markets.
Building on BNY’s Existing Crypto Strategy
The latest initiative extends BNY’s push into digital assets, which began with the launch of its custody service in October 2022. At the time, the platform initially supported bitcoin and ether for select clients. More recently, BNY expanded its custody relationship with Ripple to include XRP and RLUSD.
The agreement also outlined plans that would allow BNY clients to mint and redeem RLUSD through the bank. The addition of staking introduces another service layer to the BNY platform, enabling institutions to engage with blockchain networks while maintaining established custody and servicing workflows.
Figment Brings Institutional Staking Expertise
Figment enters the partnership with significant experience serving institutional clients. The company says it provides staking services to more than 1,500 institutions, including custodians, exchanges, wallets, and asset managers. Josh Deems, Head of Revenue at Figment, said Figment will contribute both validator infrastructure and staking expertise to the BNY platform.
The goal is to provide institutional users with another way to participate in staking without altering their existing operational processes. The announcement follows previous growth for Figment’s staking business. Its collaboration with Coinbase Prime enabled more than $2 billion in staked assets by October 2025, and support was later expanded to additional networks including Solana, Cardano, and Sui.
