Custodian Anchorage adds support for Tezos and Stellar, hoping to lure investors with staking returns

Institutional crypto custodian Anchorage is adding Stellar and Tezos to its list of eligible assets, the firm announced in a blog post.

The Andreessen Horowitz-backed firm is among the first regulated entities to offer custody support for Stellar. Meanwhile, Coinbase Custody is the only other institutional custodian that currently supports storage of Tezos, although uptake has been slow according to The Block analysis. Anchorage's post explained the assets were nominated because they offer premium interest rewards (between 1-7%) for participating token-holders, and that clients would be able to nominate their staking set-up.

Anchorage, which came out of stealth mode in January, is hoping that adding a wide array of assets available for storage will help it compete against the likes of Coinbase, BitGo, Fidelity, and soon - Bakkt. It is also trying to lure US institutional investors by offering them tax-assistance and "secure active participation" on their assets, meaning they will earn generate yield for their custodied tokens at a "low fee."

The firm also does not custody client assets in cold storage, or offline, pitching a solution that's even "safer". In May, the custodian also announced it would offer a full end-to-end insurance for the digital assets it stored.

The news comes hot off Anchorage's $40 million Series B raise last month, backed by Visa and Blockchain Capital.