Gemini

Family offices building or expanding digital asset allocations face a recurring structural question: where do they hold crypto, and how do they verify it is actually there? Gemini addresses this directly as a full-reserve, regulated cryptocurrency exchange and custodian, holding customer assets 1:1 and subjecting its controls to SOC 1 Type 2 and SOC 2 Type 2 examinations conducted by Deloitte. It was the first cryptocurrency exchange and custodian in the world to obtain those certifications. That distinction matters for family offices that need to satisfy internal governance standards or external audit requirements when reporting on digital asset positions.

The institutional offering sits alongside a retail consumer platform, and the two share infrastructure but serve different entry points. For institutional clients, the relevant capabilities include:

• Qualified custody with segregated asset storage accessible via Gemini Custody
• Trading on the Gemini Exchange with transfer between custody and exchange accounts
• The Gemini Dollar (GUSD), a NYDFS-regulated, USD-backed stablecoin audited monthly by BPM LLP
• Staking for yield on assets such as Solana
• API access implied by the institutional product line

Gemini operates under New York Department of Financial Services oversight and holds ISO/IEC 27001:2013 certification alongside its SOC certifications. The fee schedule is publicly disclosed: custody-to-exchange transfers are free, while exchange-to-custody transfers carry a $125 per-withdrawal fee. Pricing for institutional custody arrangements beyond this is not publicly disclosed, which limits direct cost comparisons at the evaluation stage. The platform is primarily oriented toward the US, UK, France, Singapore, and Turkey markets. Family offices outside those jurisdictions or requiring multi-asset consolidated reporting that spans both traditional and digital holdings would need to assess integration with existing portfolio infrastructure separately.