Ceffu partners with KuCoin Institutional to improve custody controls

The partnership, announced on November 26, 2025, from Providenciales in the Turks and Caicos Islands, expands KuCoin Institutional’s custody ecosystem with another licensed, institutional-grade provider as the platform continues to position itself as a venue for funds, corporates and other professional traders.

According to the announcement, KuCoin Institutional and Ceffu are working on new joint initiatives aimed at improving the infrastructure behind institutional participation in digital assets, with a focus on higher standards for security, compliance and operational oversight. Details of specific products have not yet been disclosed, but the partners say the integration is designed to let institutions trade while keeping assets under robust, segregated custody rather than on exchange wallets.

KuCoin CEO BC Wong said institutional trust starts with infrastructure that embeds security, transparency and compliance “at every level,” adding that the collaboration with Ceffu strengthens KuCoin’s institutional custody stack and is meant to help clients access global markets with “institutional-grade safeguards.”

Ian Loh, the CEO of Ceffu, described security as the foundation for institutional activity in digital assets, not an optional add-on, and framed the partnership as an extension of the company’s “trust-first” custody model to a broader set of institutional users on KuCoin’s trading venues.

Ceffu provides custody and liquidity infrastructure for institutions using multi-party computation (MPC) technology and customizable multi-approval schemes. Its platform is ISO 27001 and 27701 certified and has SOC 2 Type 1 and Type 2 attestations, with products built to let clients store and manage digital assets in a segregated, controlled environment.

For KuCoin Institutional, the Ceffu deal follows an earlier partnership with Cactus Custody announced on November 5, where KuCoin integrated Cactus Oasis, an off-exchange settlement framework that lets institutional clients trade on KuCoin while keeping assets in regulated, fully segregated custody at Cactus. That setup uses multi-signature wallets, cold storage and ISO-certified controls to support access to spot, margin, options and perpetual futures markets without pre-funding exchange accounts.

The institutional division itself was unveiled in November as part of a broader brand upgrade, with KuCoin describing KuCoin Institutional as a dedicated platform for professional investors, funds and corporate clients. The unit offers VIP trading desks, deep liquidity access, customized OTC solutions and an explicit “trust-first” strategy anchored in partnerships with licensed third-party custodians.

These developments arrive in a year when KuCoin has faced heightened scrutiny over compliance. In January 2025, the exchange pleaded guilty in a U.S. court to operating an unlicensed money transmitting business and agreed to pay more than $297 million in fines and forfeiture, while committing to exit the U.S. market for at least two years and improve anti-money-laundering controls.

KuCoin has since stated that it is focusing on stronger global compliance practices and may seek to re-enter the U.S. in the future with appropriate licenses, while continuing to serve users in over 200 jurisdictions and rank among the largest venues by spot trading volume.

For readers who want to understand how these institutional custody upgrades sit alongside KuCoin’s retail and professional spot markets, our dedicated spot trading guide takes a detailed look at fees, liquidity, tools and overall spot-trading performance on the exchange.