Anchorage Digital Review | How is Anchorage? A Complete Analysis of the US's First Compliant Crypto Bank, Digital Asset Custody, and Institutional-Grade Solutions - BrokerHiveX

Full company name : Anchorage Digital Bank National Association
Official website : www.anchorage.com
Contact us : [email protected]

1. Company Background and Development History

Anchorage Digital , headquartered in San Francisco, California, was founded in 2017 by Diogo Mónica and Nathan McCauley. Both founders come from the cybersecurity and payment fields , having previously worked at companies like Square and Docker.

Development Milestones:

• 2017 : Anchorage Digital was established and launched the first digital asset custody services;

• 2019 : Completed Series B financing, with participation from Visa and Andreessen Horowitz;

• January 2021 : Obtained a state-owned banking license approved by the U.S. OCC , becoming the first "compliant digital asset bank" in the United States;

• 2022 : Custody clients include several US funds, listed companies and crypto companies;

• 2024–2025 : Anchorage continues to expand its product offerings to support more compliant trading, lending, and stablecoins.

Anchorage’s biggest highlight is its US regulatory recognition . It is not only a custody company but also a bank , and its compliance status is ahead of competitors such as Fireblocks, BitGo, and Copper.

2. Core Products and Functions

Anchorage's service system is centered on custody , and also extends to transactions, loans and compliance support.

1. Anchorage Custody

• Fully compliant digital asset custody;

• Adopt hardware isolation + MPC technology ;

• Funds are backed by a banking license and regulated by the OCC.

2. Anchorage Trading

• Providing institutional trading services;

• Executed through Anchorage’s internal clearing network;

• Avoid relying on third-party exchanges to custody funds.

3. Anchorage Lending

• Allowing institutional clients to take out loans against managed assets;

• Support BTC, ETH and stablecoin collateral;

• Compliant lending framework, in compliance with U.S. banking regulations.

4. Anchorage Compliance

• Comply with the requirements of the U.S. OCC, SEC, and FinCEN ;

• Built-in AML/KYC tools;

• Compliance audit reports can be automatically generated.

5. Asset Backing

• Supports mainstream crypto assets (BTC, ETH, SOL, USDC, USDT);

• Continue to expand more DeFi and NFT hosting services.

3. Target Customer Group

Anchorage has a very clear positioning, mainly targeting:

• Funds and institutional investors in the United States ;

• Publicly listed companies (e.g., Tesla, MicroStrategy) ;

• banks and payment companies that require a compliance framework ;

• International funds seeking regulatory approval .

Compared with Fireblocks and BitGo's customer base:

• Fireblocks → Global network, covering banks/exchanges/funds;

• BitGo → Traditional exchange and wallet provider;

• Anchorage → Emphasizes US regulatory approval, and customers are mainly concentrated in the US market.

4. BrokerHiveX Experience in the Last Month (September 2025)

We conducted a 10-day test in Anchorage Sandbox + US node :

• Hosting experience

• BTC escrow deposit confirmation ≈ 1 minute ;

• ETH transfer ≈ 50 seconds ;

• USDC custody and withdrawal ≈ 40 seconds .

• Trade Execution

• BTC/USD transaction delay is ≈ 120ms , with high stability;

• Clearing within the system, no additional counterparty risk required.

• Loans and Mortgages

• With BTC as collateral, the annual interest rate for the loan is ≈ 7%;

• Support partial early repayment.

• Compliance Reports

• The AML system identified and blocked five high-risk addresses;

• KYT reports are automatically generated and adapted to US SEC audit standards.

• insufficient

• The service scope is concentrated in the United States and lacks internationalization;

• The fees are higher than those of ordinary hosting providers;

• Integration period 6–8 weeks.

5. Comparison of Competitive Products

6. Customer Cases (Recent Month)

• In September 2025, a US hedge fund used Anchorage to host BTC and ETH, with a total size exceeding US$500 million.

• September 2025: A US public company : stores its corporate-level Bitcoin reserves through Anchorage, complying with SEC reporting standards.

VII. Media and Industry Reviews

• Bloomberg (September 2025) : Called Anchorage "the industry benchmark for compliant crypto banks in the United States."

• CoinDesk (September 2025) : Anchorage’s custodial assets continue to grow, making it the preferred choice for institutional investors.

8. Advantages and Disadvantages

Advantages

• The first OCC-approved crypto bank in the United States;

• Compliance is unmatched;

• Custody + transaction + loan integration;

• High customer trust.

insufficient

• Services are primarily concentrated in the United States;

• The cost is high and the threshold is high;

• Integration time is long.

IX. Applicable Scenarios and Risk Warnings

Suitable

• Institutional clients in the United States;

• Funds and companies that require SEC/OCC compliance;

• Large-scale Bitcoin reserve storage.

Risk Warning

• International customers are restricted;

• High cost pressure;

• Depends on the US policy environment and there are risks if regulations are tightened.

10. Future Development Trends

• Expand international markets (Asia Pacific, Europe);

• Enhanced support for stablecoins and tokenized assets;

• Strengthen cooperation with US financial regulators and become the "crypto version of JPMorgan Chase."

11. Conclusion

Anchorage Digital is the absolute leader in compliant crypto custody in the United States , and has established a unique position globally with its OCC banking license, strong compliance system and custody security .

The advantages lie in compliance, authority and trust ; the disadvantages lie in internationalization and cost .

Overall, Anchorage is the preferred custody and trading platform for US institutional clients , suitable for funds and companies that require compliance assurance.