Hex Trust
Hex Trust is a Hong Kong born custodian holding digital assets for banks and funds across Asia.
On the record
Checkpoint: Series C round, promised for 'later 2025', still not confirmed as closed
The call
Hex Trust has real licenses and real clients, but newly public, better funded rivals are now chasing the same institutional money it needs to grow.
Hex Trust stores cryptocurrency for large institutional clients across Hong Kong, Singapore, and Dubai, earning money by keeping their digital assets safe. It used to be one of the few companies allowed to do this, but that has changed: BitGo just went public on the New York Stock Exchange with a special bank license, and five other major firms (Ripple, Circle, Paxos, Fidelity, and Anchorage) recently got permission to operate as banks too. Fireblocks, another competitor, already handles massive amounts of crypto transactions across Asia. The one thing that could shift the picture is whether Hex Trust can finally close its fundraising round (promised for late 2025 but still not announced as of mid-2026) and whether it can win big new clients faster than these newly public and newly chartered rivals can.
Why
01
AI pressure: None apparent. AI is not the thing coming for custody, capital and charters are. Automation may just cut Hex Trust's own compliance costs. Could AI do the core job? Unlikely.
02
Bigger players: BitGo, Ripple, Circle, Paxos, Fidelity Digital Assets, Ceffu. BitGo IPO'd on NYSE in Jan 2026 with an OCC charter, and Ripple, Circle, Paxos and Fidelity got conditional OCC charters in Dec 2025, all chasing the same institutional clients. Could a giant copy it? Probably.
03
What protects it. Licenses in Hong Kong, Singapore, Dubai, Italy and Vietnam plus 450+ clients who face real cost and risk switching custodians.
What would change this call
Hex Trust announces a Series C close (or continues without one) in 2026. Shows whether investors still back its valuation versus newly public rivals.
BitGo, Ripple, Circle, Paxos, or Fidelity publicly launch APAC custody licensing or client wins. Would show OCC-chartered rivals directly entering Hex Trust's regional turf.
Hex Trust's disclosed client count or AUM figures change from 450+ clients / $5B AUM. Would indicate real growth or stagnation versus competitor claims.
BitGo, Ripple, Circle, Paxos, or Fidelity publicly launch APAC custody licensing or client wins. Would show OCC-chartered rivals directly entering Hex Trust's regional turf.
Hex Trust's disclosed client count or AUM figures change from 450+ clients / $5B AUM. Would indicate real growth or stagnation versus competitor claims.
Key numbers
- 450+ institutional clients
- $5B+ assets under custody
- Valuation flat at ~$300M since March 2022
Named risks
- Series C funding stalled since Feb 2025 strategic round, valuation flat at ~$300M since 2022.
- Larger newly OCC-chartered and now-public competitors (BitGo, Anchorage, Ripple, Circle) expanding into APAC custody.
- Revenue figures undisclosed and conflicting across third-party estimates, limiting financial transparency.
- Hong Kong VASP regulatory regime could tighten, affecting home-market operations per CEO's own comments (2024).
- New Aura wealth-management platform could dilute focus or resources from core custody business.
Rivals, as read in July 2026
| Rival | Direction | Evidence |
|---|---|---|
| BitGo | gaining on | NYSE IPO Jan 2026 with OCC trust charter, larger public capital base |
| Ripple, Circle, Paxos, Fidelity Digital Assets | gaining on | Won conditional OCC national trust bank charters Dec 2025 |
| Anchorage Digital | gaining on | OCC-chartered bank status gives broader US regulatory standing |
| Fireblocks | contesting | Partnered with Hex Trust for APAC/MENA interoperability Nov 2025 while also competing directly |
| Ceffu (Binance) | contesting | APAC-native institutional custody arm competing for same regional clients |
Questions people ask
- Is Hex Trust profitable in 2026?
- Hex Trust does not publicly disclose audited revenue or profitability. As of mid-2026 no confirmed revenue figure exists from the company itself; third-party estimates conflict widely and are unreliable, so profitability cannot be verified from public sources.
- Who owns Hex Trust?
- Hex Trust is privately held and venture-backed with no parent company. It was founded in 2018 in Hong Kong by Alessio Quaglini and Rafal Czerniawski, ex-banking technologists, and remains founder-led as of 2026.
- Could AI replace Hex Trust's custody business?
- No. Hex Trust's core value is legal custody licensure (Hong Kong TCSP, Singapore MAS MPI 2025, Dubai VARA) plus insurance up to $100M and key-holding liability, none of which AI can substitute; AI can at most automate back-office compliance tasks.
- Has Hex Trust closed its Series C round?
- As of mid-2026, no. A February 2025 strategic round led by Morgan Creek Digital was framed as a bridge to a Series C planned for 'later 2025,' but no close has been publicly confirmed, leaving valuation flat around $300M since March 2022.
- Who is Hex Trust's biggest competitor?
- BitGo, which IPO'd on NYSE in January 2026 with an OCC trust charter, is Hex Trust's most-capitalized rival. Fireblocks, Ceffu, and newly OCC-chartered Ripple, Circle, Paxos, and Fidelity Digital Assets (December 2025) also compete for institutional custody clients.
- Is Hex Trust a safe company to join as an employee?
- Hex Trust is an operating, licensed custodian with 450+ clients and growing headcount (about 100 at the March 2022 Series B to roughly 156 by 2026), but a stalled Series C and rising competition from better-funded rivals add uncertainty to its near-term trajectory.
Timeline
- 2026-03-15Completed SOC 1 Type 2, SOC 2 Type 2, and CSA STAR Level 2 audit renewals
- 2026-02-18Launched Aura by Hex Trust private wealth platform at Consensus Hong Kong
- 2026-01BitGo IPO'd on NYSE with OCC trust charter, intensifying custody competition
- 2025-12-15Announced plans to issue and custody Wrapped XRP with $100M TVL at launch
- 2025-12-12Ripple, Circle, Paxos, and Fidelity won conditional OCC national trust bank charters
- 2025-02-07Closed strategic round led by Morgan Creek Digital with Injective, bridge to planned Series C
- 2025Singapore's MAS granted Hex Trust a Major Payment Institution license
- 2022-03-15Closed $88M Series B co-led by Animoca Brands and Liberty City Ventures at ~$300M valuation
- 2021-10Closed extended $10M round led by Animoca Brands
- 2018Founded in Hong Kong by Alessio Quaglini and Rafal Czerniawski
Revision history
21 July 2026
First assessed. Losing its protection. The text above is fixed as of this date and is not edited afterwards.
In the same band
Sources
- Hex Trust Closes Series A
- Hex Trust
- Crypto custodian Hex Trust raises $88 million in Series B funding (2022-03-15)
- Hex Trust Secures Strategic Investment from Morgan Creek (2025-02-07)
- Valuation, Funding Rounds & Stock Price (2026-02-28)
- Revenue, Competitors, Alternatives (2022-04-16)
- Hex Trust Company Profile: Financials, Valuation, and Growth (2024-03-14)
- The Leader in Digital Asset Solutions (2026-05-20)
- Hex Trust - Overview, News & Similar companies (2026-07-06)
- Hex Trust Raises $88M in Series B To Expand into Europe, Middle East (2022-03-16)
- Institutional Custody
- 2026 Overview, Team, & Milestones