Deutsche Telekom to store Celo tokens on Coinbase Custody

Europe’s largest telecoms company by revenue has tapped Coinbase Custody for its Celo tokens.

Coinbase Custody, the crypto custodial solution offered by United States exchange giant Coinbase, has been chosen by Deutsche Telekom to store its Celo tokens.

According to a release issued on Monday, the telecoms giant identified the robust security protocols offered by Coinbase Custody as a major reason for choosing the service.

Deutsche Telekom invested in Celo back in April, becoming the first telecom member of the Celo Alliance for Prosperity. Apart from making a “significant purchase” of Celo tokens, Deutsche Telekom’s T-Systems MMS subsidiary also became a validator on the mobile decentralized finance Celo network.

As previously reported by Cointelegraph, United States-based venture capital behemoth Andreessen Horowitz, aka a16z, delegated its Celo assets to T-Systems MMS. At the time, Katie Haun, general partner at a16z, stated that both companies had similar visions about the ability of the Celo project to disrupt the global payment sector.

Deutsche Telekom’s selection of Coinbase Custody comes after the latter secured approval from Germany’s Federal Financial Supervisory Authority back in June. Indeed, Coinbase became the first crypto exchange to be granted such a license in the country following the news.

Related: Cryptocurrency custody gives commercial banks a foothold in the market

Custody has always been a focal point of the discussion surrounding broad-based institutional adoption of crypto. Legal requirements in many jurisdictions often mandate regulated entities to store assets with recognized custodians.

Banks and other financial institutions are increasingly making their first forays into the crypto space by leveraging their standing with regulators to offer cryptocurrency. This trend is in addition to the custodial services offered by regulated exchanges such as Coinbase and Gemini.

Fintechs and tech companies, in general, are also making forays into the crypto custody space. Back in June, Twitter and Square CEO Jack Dorsey revealed that the latter was developing a Bitcoin (BTC) hardware wallet.

Indeed, given the maturing crypto custody space, attention has begun to shift to onboarding major institutional players such as retirement funds and sovereign wealth management funds.