Upgrading Crypto Capabilities with Institutional-Grade Custody and Payment Infrastructure

Client Overview

The client is a global multi-asset online brokerage serving millions of traders worldwide. Its platform offers CFD trading across foreign exchange, indices, commodities, equities, and ETFs. Operating under multiple regulatory licenses, the firm represents a typical hybrid model combining traditional financial services with an online brokerage platform.

As stablecoins become increasingly used for global fund movement, the brokerage sought to complement existing fiat funding methods such as bank cards and wire transfers with stablecoin account funding options. The objective was to enable faster, more accessible account funding for global clients without compromising regulatory compliance or operational control.

Business Challenges

• High custody and compliance requirements: As a regulated financial institution, the brokerage must securely receive and manage client crypto assets within its existing compliance framework, while avoiding the security and audit risks associated with building in-house custody infrastructure.

• Limited native crypto support in legacy systems: Existing account and clearing systems are primarily designed around fiat currencies. Introducing crypto and stablecoins risks creating parallel systems, increasing operational complexity and long-term maintenance costs.

• Inefficient cross-border fund movement: Reliance on traditional funding rails limits funding speed, increases transaction costs, and restricts availability in certain regions.

• Need to preserve a unified client experience: End-users should be able to fund accounts and trade within the familiar brokerage interface, without being redirected to third-party platforms.

Cobo’s Solution

• Unified access to crypto and stablecoin account funding:The brokerage integrated Cobo’s Wallet-as-a-Service (WaaS) and stablecoin payment capabilities into its existing account infrastructure. Clients can initiate cryptocurrency or stablecoin account funding within the same interface, while custody, fund aggregation, and conversion are handled in the background and reflected directly as account balances.

• Institutional-grade custody and risk controls to support security and compliance:Client digital assets are centrally custodied within Cobo’s infrastructure, covering private key management, multi-level approvals, operational audit trails, and configurable risk control policies. This removes the need for the brokerage to build custody and security infrastructure in-house and supports regulatory and audit requirements for licensed institutions.

• Centralized multi-chain asset management with automated bridging and conversion:Using Cobo’s bridge and Token Swap capabilities, stablecoins distributed across multiple blockchains are automatically consolidated to designated networks and wallets. This reduces asset fragmentation and manual handling, with WaaS APIs managing cross-chain and conversion execution.

• Front-end experience aligned with traditional account funding workflows:Clients simply select the stablecoin and network and complete the on-chain transfer. All subsequent steps, including cross-chain processing, aggregation, conversion, and account crediting, are handled automatically in the backend, delivering an experience consistent with traditional account funding methods.

Results and Impact

• Faster account funding and more timely trading activity: Stablecoin account funding via on-chain transfers significantly reduced the time from funding to available balance. Global clients were less likely to miss trading opportunities due to funding delays, contributing to higher trading activity.

• Expanded global client reach: In markets where fiat funding options are limited or costly, stablecoin funding options enabled access for clients who hold on-chain assets and prioritize capital efficiency.

• Improved control over fund operations: Multi-chain assets are centrally managed within Cobo’s custodial wallets, with automated bridging, conversion, and aggregation reducing manual intervention and operational risk. Reconciliation and fund allocation efficiency for finance and operations teams improved materially.

• Greater focus on core brokerage capabilities: With custody, security, and crypto payment infrastructure provided by Cobo, the brokerage was able to allocate more internal resources to product development, client service, and ongoing compliance optimization, rather than wallet operations and on-chain mechanics.