Day-to-day crypto and digital asset operations is one of the most important and business-critical functions for any company working with digital assets – whether you’re a fintech, web3 company, bank or OTC desk. A well-executed crypto operation is one where you have 24/7 access to funds, and can be sure assets are secure at all times, whether they’re in storage or in motion.

If a counterparty holds custody of your crypto or digital assets, there is no replacement for due diligence in terms of risk management, security controls, and operational processes. This is why it’s critical to design crypto operations workflows that mitigate exposure to your counterparties and minimize business continuity risks. For a quick introduction to counterparty risk and how to identify your counterparties take a look here.

We recommend that all organizations working with crypto, web3 or digital assets implement transaction policies. This is a great way to prevent loss of assets without sacrificing speed and efficiency from an operational perspective. If you’re interested in learning what a crypto transaction policy is and why it’s important, check out the basics here. If you’re ready to start implementing transaction policies at your organization, you’ve come to the right place.

When working with digital assets or crypto, it can be difficult to know how many organizations and teams have access to your private keys at all times. In order to protect your customers and investors, it’s critical to develop a transaction and user policy layer. From compromised internal actors to simple fat fingers errors, the crypto industry is no stranger to both mistakes and targeted attacks leading to major losses.

ABN AMRO, headquartered in Amsterdam, became the first bank in Europe to register a digital bond on the public blockchain, using Fireblocks. The digital bond was issued to a select group of investors to raise funds on behalf of APOC, an ABN AMRO commercial client in the aerospace industry. ABN AMRO’s bond issuance sets an innovative precedent in bringing more real world use cases of blockchain technology to traditional financial markets.

“Not your keys, not your crypto” is a common phrase in the world of digital assets, and for good reason. Private keys are the only information required to sign transactions and move your digital assets. Because of this, only trusted individuals or third parties should have access to your organization’s private keys. But how do you ensure this stays true as you grow your business, team, and network of counterparties?