Exchange custody
Plain definition. Gemini’s guide to crypto custody calls this third-party custody: a provider holds and manages customer funds entirely and acts on the customer’s instructions.
Technical definition. Gemini’s guide describes third-party custody as a managed solution in which customer funds are “held and managed entirely by a solutions provider.” The provider is the only entity acting on the customer’s instructions, and the customer is not a direct signing authority; service level agreements set the terms and timing for storing, accessing and moving the funds. These solutions come as online “hot wallets,” which keep signing keys in internet-connected systems, or offline “cold storage,” which holds signing keys in hardware devices with no connection to the internet.
On this site
On this site, Exchange custody comes up in What happened to XRP held with crypto lenders that collapsed in 2022?, Why did exchanges freeze or delist XRP during the lawsuit?, How is XRP classified and regulated outside the US (EU, UK, Japan, Singapore, Canada)?, How do buying and selling XRP work, and where can people do it? and Where should I keep my XRP: on the exchange or in my own wallet?.
Source
A Guide to (gemini.com), read October 2, 2026.
Pages that cover Exchange custody
- Can my XRP be frozen or taken back?
- Is there a limit on how much XRP I can buy in Canada?
- What happens to my XRP if the exchange goes bankrupt?
- How do I find or recover old XRP (a paper wallet or a forgotten service)?
- How do crypto exchanges actually get hacked if they use cold wallets?
- Someone I met online is showing me big crypto profits. Is it real?
- How do I secure my account on a crypto trading platform (security keys, withdrawal allowlists, alerts)?
- What happens to my XRP when I die?
- What is a destination tag, and what if I forgot it?
- What happened to XRP held with crypto lenders that collapsed in 2022?
- Why did exchanges freeze or delist XRP during the lawsuit?
- Do I have to report XRP held on a foreign platform or in self-custody on foreign-property or foreign-account forms?
- Should I spread my XRP across several exchanges and wallets?
- What rules must a Canadian crypto platform follow to hold my XRP?
- Where should I keep my XRP: on the exchange or in my own wallet?
- How do buying and selling XRP work, and where can people do it?
- Is my crypto insured like a bank account?
- How is XRP classified and regulated outside the US (EU, UK, Japan, Singapore, Canada)?
- What happened in the September 2026 Bitget theft, and were customers' funds affected?
- What's the biggest single cause of crypto losses for ordinary people?
- How do I check that a crypto platform is registered and legitimate?