A leading provider of cryptocurrency IRAs (individual retirement accounts) believes they might have found a solution to one of the barriers stopping institutional investors taking up positions in digital currency. Noble Bitcoin announced earlier today that they are going to provide insured cold storage solutions for clients.
Is Better Storage the Key to Cryptocurrency’s Success?
For many non-technical people, making an investment in cryptocurrency is a bit of a minefield. One of the largest challenges faced is the storage of the digital assets themselves. The typical advice is to use a properly created paper wallet or a purpose built hardware wallet. However, there are problems with both of these solutions. Paper wallets are notoriously difficult to set up perfectly and hardware wallets although easier to use, are not immune from security issues themselves. These problems are only amplified when it comes to making investments of tens or hundreds of millions of dollars.
Noble Bitcoin, a subsidiary of Noble Alternative Investments, believes that these difficulties are stopping high net worth individuals from taking up positions in Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies. The solution they propose is insured cold storage.
According to news source PR Web, the company are planning on taking care of everything for their clients – from the initial purchase of coins and tokens, right through to their eventual storage. Noble Alternative Investment’s CEO Charles Thorngren told the publication:
“The current cryptocurrency exchanges and companies that make up the landscape provide no insurance, no location and often no support, this is the piece of ‘service’ that is missing in the financial services aspect of cryptocurrencies.”
The digital assets that Noble Bitcoin are offering to store are all those that they accept for individual retirement accounts. These include Bitcoin, Ethereum, Litecoin, and Ripple. They’ll be stored in cold storage in the IDS-Texas depository and benefit from insurance should a security compromise occur. The depository is a high tech, ultra-secure facility, with various measures in place to help protect the assets stored there. At present, precious metals such as gold, silver, and platinum are already kept safe at the location.
Thorngren went on to state his perception of the future of cryptocurrencies and how Noble Bitcoin can be a part of realising it:
“We believe cryptocurrencies will revolutionise financial services, but in order to reach broader acceptance among the masses it is crucial that we emphasise transparency and trust… We saw an opportunity to change the tide of uncertainty amongst investors by offering them a service that was absent from the market.”
Whilst there is yet to be any word of when Noble Bitcoin will launch their full custodian service, such initiatives are certainly lacking from the cryptocurrency space. High net worth individuals are unlikely or unable to take up the positions they perhaps would like to thanks to the current digital currency infrastructure. Many will be reluctant about using existing exchanges since these are prone to hacks. The only real option for them is OTC purchases and this leaves them with the burden finding a seller and securing the assets themselves. If the Noble Bitcoin service proves successful, perhaps more will be encouraged to enter the market.
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