NGRAVE is a digital asset and blockchain security provider specialising in top security solutions.
In the midst of a liquidity crisis suffered by major centralised cryptocurrency exchanges, the term “self-custody” has regained relevance among the crypto community.
Cryptocurrency escrow describes the process of securing assets against theft or loss.
Centralised crypto exchanges are custodians, i.e. third parties that oversee users’ private keys, which grant ownership over the assets being stored.
Self-custody, on the other hand, means that the user is solely responsible for managing the wallet’s private key, and therefore the user is the only one who can prove that he or she is the owner of the funds, access them and manage them. And this is precisely where the famous phrase “not your keys, not your crypto” comes from, which refers to the fact that only with self-custody are people 100% owners of their cryptocurrencies.
So, given the liquidity crises that have led crypto exchanges to stop withdrawals and trading, crypto users are once again talking about self-custody, its benefits and dangers.
Binance seeks to boost self-custody
Prompted by this recent crisis, Binance recently issued a press release informing that Binance Labs has made a strategic investment and will lead the next Series A round of NGRAVE.
NGRAVE is a digital asset and blockchain security provider specialising in solutions that are highly secure yet easy to use. This company was founded in 2018 and has since developed three major solutions ZERO, LIQUID and GRAPHENE.
Why is Binance Labs moving in this direction?
According to Yi He, co-founder of Binance and head of Binance Labs, one of the biggest challenges facing the crypto industry today in terms of adoption is security.
In terms of security, in theory, self-custodial wallets are one of the most secure methods of storing digital assets. However, this is in theory because the security of the assets stored in them depends entirely on the user’s responsibility and knowledge of the risks. Among the self-custody options, hardware wallets are one of the most secure options.
Still, according to Tyler Z, chief investment officer of Binance Labs, they are pleased to “capitalise on the emerging hardware wallet sector and partner with NGRAVE to bring sophisticated wallet products to both retail and institutional users”.
Likewise, Ruben Merre, co-founder and CEO of NGRAVE, said the company is focused on helping users increasingly protect their cryptocurrencies.
“For example, when we analysed existing key creation processes, we realised that there were serious security gaps. So we reinvented the way keys are generated and also overcame the limitations of today’s widely used mnemonic wallets,” Merre explained, adding “Our goal has always been simple: we want to make the crypto world a safer place for everyone.”
