MetaMask’s new inbuilt multi-chain institutional custody feature
MetaMask, originally owned by Consensys, has reportedly integrated the firm’s first multi-chain digital asset custody solution, being dubbed as Cactus Custody.
MetaMask Institutional (MMI) had initially collaborated with Cactus Custody, which is owned by cryptocurrencies financial service platform Matrixport, in October 2021 for incorporating its “DeFi Connector” feature into the MMI’s suite of services.
The full integration of MMI had been announced on January 26, and Cactus Custody’s feature would henceforth be providing institutional customers with multi-chain connectivity to various Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM) chains, sidechains and Layer 2s that are supported by MetaMask like Binance Smart Chain, Ethereum, Celo, Avalanche, and Polygon.
Product Lead at MMI, Johann Bornman has said that Cactus Custody’s multi-chain EVM support would enable institutions of freely bridging digital assets across the networks. He said it is a “profound DeFi offering for institutions.”
The DeFi Connector feature would also provide additional security and compliance, including aspects like audit trails for transactions, private key safeguarding mechanism and “role-based approval” procedures during interactions with DeFi platforms.
MMI had been developed in December 2020, and its wallet actually differs from Metamask as it has been integrated with additional security, compliance as well as custodial features that are vital for the increasing number of institutions that have been flocking to DeFi. The product aims at giving institutional investors the exposure to the entire DeFi ecosystem from within their MMI wallets.
Its other custodial partners at present include major crypto firms like decentralized custody firm Qredo and multi-signature wallet providers BitGO.
According to news reports, MetaMask has doubled the number of their monthly active users from August 2021, while its website tallied the figure at more than 21 million while writing this report.
