Originally reported by Cointelegraph on November 14, 2026, at 05:49 (UTC+8). Blockstream announced an institutional digital-asset custody system developed with French technology group Thales. Blockstream says the system combines its Secure Multi-Party Computation (Secure-MPC) technology with Thales hardware security modules, keeping the entire transaction-signing protocol inside the modules’ protected environment. That is a description of the proposed security architecture, not independent verification of its performance.
Blockstream co-founder and CEO Adam Back told Cointelegraph that conventional MPC protocols can require too much interaction between devices to work well in fully offline cold storage. He argued that keeping signing devices offline reduces the risk of unauthorized network access and said AI could help attackers find implementation flaws in complex systems. Back cited a $6.3 billion Binance hack; the article attributes its account of compromised employee devices and wallet-signing credentials to Binance’s investigation.
The custody question for institutions is who controls the signing process and how access is restricted. The report describes Blockstream’s approach but does not establish how any customer’s assets would be held or what obligations a custodian would owe them.