At the MicroStrategy World: bitcoin for Corporations conference, Nathan McCauley, co-founder and CEO of Anchorage Digitalshared his thoughts on the increasing institutional adoption rate of bitcoin.
Anchorage Digital, the only federally chartered bitcoin bank and a leading institutional custodian, plays a crucial role in facilitating this transition so that bitcoin becomes an asset that institutions invest in by providing secure storage and trading solutions for the active.
In an interview with bitcoin Magazine, McCauley discussed the company's mission, growing interest from institutions, and how Anchorage customers are dealing with bitcoin's volatility, among other topics.
The rise of institutional interest in bitcoin
Reflecting on his career in technology and founding Anchorage Digital in 2017, McCauley highlighted the company's goal of serving a wide range of institutional clients, including large corporations, sovereign wealth funds and governments.
“We offer a secure place for institutions to store their bitcoin and allow them to trade and manage their holdings,” McCauley told bitcoin Magazine.
Over the four years that MicroStrategy has hosted its bitcoin for Corporations conference, bitcoin has undergone a notable shift from being a taboo topic to a legitimate asset class attracting significant institutional interest.
McCauley noted that this growing interest is not a sudden phenomenon but the result of consistent demand over time.
“The demand for bitcoin was always there,” he said. “In fact, something counterintuitive that I would like to tell people is that bitcoin ETFs did not create this demand. The demand was already there. There were already people interested in participating in the space.”
Customer satisfaction and long-term commitment
When asked how clients feel coming out of the bitcoin bear market, McCauley emphasized that those institutions that develop a long-term outlook on bitcoin tend to be more satisfied.
“The majority of our clients are committed to holding bitcoin for a long period of time and are satisfied with both their investments and their relationship with Anchorage,” he said.
He added that Anchorage's dedicated customer experience team plays a crucial role in helping clients navigate volatility and manage their investments effectively.
Infrastructure for financial advisors
Anchorage is not only focused on helping clients custody bitcoins, but also on building the infrastructure necessary for financial advisors to facilitate their clients' bitcoin investments.
“We are developing comprehensive custody and business integration systems to support financial advisors across the country,” he explained.
Global Talent
An important aspect of Anchorage's strategy is its global approach to recruiting talent.
“bitcoin is a global movement and we recruit talent from several regions, including the United States, Portugal and Singapore,” McCauley said.
“The goal is to democratize access to this financial asset around the world. Anything less than doing that when we think about where we hire and where we bring talent into the company would almost be a kind of betrayal of the ecosystem.” he added she.
Charter of the Federal Trust Bank of Anchorage
Anchorage's credibility is further bolstered by its Federal Trust Bank charter, making it one of the few cryptocurrency companies overseen by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC).
“This level of supervisory and compliance rigor puts us on par with the largest banks in the country,” McCauley said.
Achieving this charter involved building a secure and flexible escrow system and demonstrating compliance capabilities to the OCC.
The era of institutional adoption
In a keynote at the conference, Michael Saylor, CEO of MicroStrategy, walked the audience through a timeline of bitcoin adoption. In it, he noted that we have left the days of the asset's Wild West behind us and shared that the days of “crypto chaos” (the 2020-2023 era in the broader crypto space) are behind us.
McCauley agrees with this assessment and sees Anchorage as a key player in this transition.
He cited early predictions from figures like Hal Finney, who anticipated that much of bitcoin would eventually be in the hands of banks.
“Anchorage is a manifestation of this vision and we are committed to driving further institutional growth in the bitcoin space,” McCauley concluded.
As bitcoin continues to gain acceptance among institutions, companies like Anchorage Digital are leading the way, providing the necessary infrastructure and regulatory compliance to support this growth.
The insights shared by Nathan McCauley underscore the importance of long-term commitment, education, and global collaboration to promote institutional adoption of bitcoin.
