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SOL ICE, parent company of the New York Stock Exchange, launches digital trust to target the US$184 billion crypto ETF custody market
The Intercontinental Exchange (ICE), parent company of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), has released a white paper positioning ICE Digital Trust as an institutional-level crypto asset custody platform. ICE is entering the fast-growing $184 billion digital asset ETF market with its custody business, which is regulated by the New York State Department of Financial Services (NYDFS).
The company emphasized that it uses offline cold storage, multi-step approval and 100% manual transaction review to ensure the security of institutional digital assets.
When ICE acquired a digital asset custody business in May 2025, it was not simply adding another crypto product, but was betting on a business that could become one of the most valuable infrastructure businesses in digital finance. Just over a year later, ICE has now publicly promoted ICE Digital Trust as a custodian partner of digital asset ETF issuers. The company said this is important because the market value of cryptocurrency exchange-traded funds (ETFs) has exceeded $184 billion.
In its latest white paper released this week, ICE reveals its next institutional opportunity: secure custody of billions of dollars in Bitcoin, Ethereum and tokenized assets for Wall Street asset managers. The company believes that the custody business, which has long been a back-office function in traditional finance, is becoming a strategic pillar of the digital asset ecosystem.
Why ICE targets crypto custody business
Cryptographic custody is significantly different from traditional securities custody. Unlike stocks held electronically through a central depository, cryptocurrencies are controlled by private encryption keys. Losing or leaking these keys can result in irreversible loss of assets. This makes institutional hosting one of the most critical services in the crypto ecosystem.
Therefore, every spot Bitcoin or Ethereum ETF requires a qualified custodian to securely hold the relevant digital assets, while also complying with financial regulations. ICE Digital Trust, as a subsidiary, aims to secure these assets. It is regulated by the New York State Department of Financial Services (NYDFS) and is a limited purpose trust company.
In fact, this opportunity goes far beyond current ETF assets. Market research estimates that the size of the crypto hosting service provider industry itself may grow from approximately $3.7 billion in 2026 to $7.7 billion in 2032.
This development coincides with the launch of a new round of crypto ETFs. Just this week, Morgan Stanley announced the launch of Ethereum and Solana ETFs on NYSE Arca. As more ETFs enter the market, ICE is positioning Digital Trusts as the secure hosting infrastructure behind them.
Why cryptographic custody has become a battleground
ICE is not entering a blank market. Institution-level crypto custody is currently dominated by several established service providers, including Coinbase Custody, Fidelity Digital Assets, BitGo, Anchorage Digital, and multiple bank-backed custodians. BitGo alone says it holds more than US$100 billion in digital assets and guarantees about 20% of the value of online Bitcoin transactions, which is enough to illustrate the scale that leading custodians have achieved.
ICE's move into institutional-level crypto custody is in line with its broader digital asset strategy. In addition to acquiring ICE Digital Trust in May 2025, the NYSE's parent company has also expanded its blockchain landscape through major investments and partnerships. In October 2025, ICE committed to investing up to US$2 billion in prediction market platform Polymarket to become a global distributor of its event-driven market data and to cooperate on a tokenization project.
As crypto ETFs continue to absorb assets and tokenized securities gain traction among traditional financial institutions, the custody business is expected to become one of the most stable and recurring sources of income for the industry. ICE's latest white paper suggests that the company believes the next stage in institutional crypto adoption may not be won by launching new funds, but by holding them securely.
