Bitget Just Changed How It Holds Your Crypto Collateral

TLDR

• Bitget has integrated with Sygnum’s off-exchange custody platform called Protect.
• Exchanges using Protect now account for more than half of global spot and derivatives trading volume.
• Protect’s assets under custody grew over 900% in 2025, passing $1 billion.
• Collateral held with Sygnum stays in Swiss bank accounts, separate from Bitget’s own balance sheet.
• Bitget is exiting the Japanese market after warnings from regulators there.

---

Bitget has joined Sygnum’s off-exchange custody platform, known as Protect. The move lets institutional traders on Bitget keep their collateral with a regulated Swiss bank instead of the exchange itself.

📣 News: @bitget Latest Major Crypto Exchange To Partner With Sygnum Bank For Off-Exchange Custody

▪️ With Bitget live on Protect, Sygnum’s off-exchange custody platform, member exchanges account for over half of global annual spot and derivatives exchange volumes
▪️ Bitget, one… pic.twitter.com/AQjtZVsKW1

— Sygnum Bank (@sygnumofficial) September 24, 2026

Sygnum is a digital asset bank based in Switzerland. Protect is its custody service, built to hold client funds separately from crypto exchanges.

With Bitget now on board, exchanges connected to Protect handle more than half of all global spot and derivatives trading volume. That is a large share of the crypto trading market.

Under this setup, institutional clients can trade on Bitget while their money sits in Sygnum’s custody accounts. Bitget receives a mirrored balance that can be used for trading.

How Off-Exchange Custody Works

The collateral held by Sygnum is ring-fenced under Swiss banking law. This means it stays legally separate from Bitget’s finances.

If Bitget ran into financial trouble, the funds held with Sygnum would not be part of that. This is what makes the setup “bankruptcy-remote.”

Sygnum accepts several types of collateral. These include bitcoin, ether, stablecoins, and U.S. Treasuries.

Treasuries can generate yield for clients while sitting in custody. Sygnum says this feature sets its platform apart from custody services that are not run by banks.

Protect launched in April 2024. Assets held on the platform grew more than 900% during 2025, pushing the total above $1 billion.

Sygnum says this makes Protect the largest bank-run custody platform of its kind. Other exchanges already using Protect include Binance, Deribit, and Bybit.

Thomas Eichenberger, deputy group chief executive of Sygnum Bank, said off-exchange custody has become standard infrastructure for institutional crypto trading.

Bitget chief executive Gracy Chen said large exchanges are increasingly adopting bank-grade custody. She said this is becoming what institutional clients expect.

Bitget serves more than 125 million users across over 150 countries. It is one of the larger exchanges by derivatives trading volume.

Bitget’s Exit From Japan

While expanding this custody partnership, Bitget is pulling back from another market. The company announced in August that it will end services for users in Japan.

New registrations from Japan stopped immediately after the announcement. Existing account functions will be restricted starting November 1.

Bitget plans to force-liquidate any open positions held by Japanese users by December 31. The decision follows warnings from Japan’s Financial Services Agency.

Japanese regulators had flagged concerns about unregistered operations. They also asked app stores in the country to remove access to certain overseas exchange apps.

Bitget is not alone in adopting this custody model. Other major exchanges have taken similar steps in recent years to separate client funds from exchange operations.

The shift toward off-exchange custody has been gradual. It started as an option mainly used by more cautious institutional trading desks.

It has since grown into a widely used setup among large exchanges. Protect’s growth over the past two years reflects that trend.

Bitget’s addition to Protect brings the platform’s combined trading volume coverage above the halfway mark globally. This makes it one of the more widely used custody arrangements in the industry.