CoinCorner has launched a Bitcoin custody service for UK customers that charges a 1.5% annual fee and uses keys held separately by CoinCorner and AnchorWatch.
Summary
- CoinCorner and AnchorWatch each control a key, preventing either company from moving customers’ Bitcoin alone.
- Lloyd’s of London underwriters cover key loss and unauthorized access involving Bitcoin held in Vault.
- Customers can add or remove funds without a long-term commitment and set custom identity checks.
- CoinCorner’s crypto services remain outside FCA regulation and are not protected by the UK’s FSCS.
CoinCorner said its new Vault uses multi-signature technology to divide control of customers’ Bitcoin between two companies operating in different jurisdictions. CoinCorner holds one key, while insurance and custody provider AnchorWatch holds the other.
Neither company can independently approve a transfer from the Vault, according to CoinCorner’s support documents. Requiring multiple keys removes the single point of control found in a conventional custodial wallet, where one company can authorize transactions on its own.
Bitcoin held through the service is insured under a policy underwritten through the Lloyd’s of London market. CoinCorner said the cover applies to losses caused by lost keys and unauthorized access, although specific policy conditions and exclusions have not been published on the product page.
Customers can also set their own identity checks, which must be completed before a transaction can proceed. The available controls allow account holders to add verification steps that match their security needs, with CoinCorner’s support team handling the setup.
CoinCorner Vault charges a 1.5% annual fee
Vault costs 1.5% per year, with CoinCorner calculating and billing the fee monthly. The company charges customers on the first day of each month based on the amount of Bitcoin recorded in their Vault at that time.
No long-term commitment is required, and users can move Bitcoin into or out of the product. Withdrawals return funds to a customer’s standard CoinCorner Bitcoin balance, which the company describes as an instant process.
Deposits follow a different monthly schedule. According to CoinCorner’s Vault guidance, Bitcoin added after the first day of a calendar month does not enter the recorded Vault balance until the following month. The company says any Bitcoin remaining within Vault after a withdrawal continues to be insured.
CoinCorner also says it does not lend out or otherwise use Bitcoin placed in the service. The product therefore differs from interest-bearing crypto accounts, where a platform may deploy customer assets through loans or other transactions in return for yield.
Vault does not advertise a return on deposited Bitcoin. Customers instead pay for the custody structure, transaction controls, and insurance attached to assets held within the product.
Multi-signature custody splits control between two firms
Multi-signature wallets require more than one private key to approve a Bitcoin transaction. Under CoinCorner’s setup, the relevant keys are held by independent entities rather than stored by a single platform.
AnchorWatch provides the second part of that arrangement through Trident, its Bitcoin custody infrastructure. The AnchorWatch platform uses Bitcoin scripts and time locks to apply security, recovery, and governance rules at the protocol level.
Time locks can make an alternative method of moving funds available after a specified period when a key is lost or a participant becomes unavailable. AnchorWatch says the design allows recovery conditions to be built into a vault without giving one party immediate control over the Bitcoin.
The US company is also a Lloyd’s coverholder, which allows it to arrange policies backed by underwriting capacity in the Lloyd’s market. AnchorWatch says its other custody products can obtain as much as $100 million of cover per vault, while institutional customers may seek limits of up to $500 million. CoinCorner has not disclosed the limit attached to its UK Vault product, so figures advertised for AnchorWatch’s other services should not be treated as the coverage available to every CoinCorner customer.
AnchorWatch separately offers a three-institution custody configuration involving AnchorWatch, BitGo, and CoinCorner. Its website describes that product as a two-of-three wallet, meaning two institutions must sign a transaction. CoinCorner’s UK-facing documents describe Vault as a two-entity service in which CoinCorner holds one key and AnchorWatch holds the other.
Insurance does not provide FSCS protection
The private insurance attached to Vault is separate from the protection provided through the UK’s Financial Services Compensation Scheme.
CoinCorner states in its legal notice that investments in cryptoassets through its platform are not regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority. Customers also cannot take complaints about the crypto service to the Financial Ombudsman Service, while their Bitcoin is not eligible for FSCS protection.
The distinction matters because private policies cover named events under agreed terms and exclusions. CoinCorner identifies lost keys and unauthorized access as covered events, but its public Vault material does not say that the policy protects customers from a fall in Bitcoin’s price, insolvency, or every possible operational loss.
CoinCorner Ltd is based in the Isle of Man and is registered with the Isle of Man Financial Services Authority under the Designated Business Act 2015. The company is also registered with the Isle of Man Office of Fair Trading as a moneylender.
Its electronic money and payment services have a separate structure. CoinCorner acts as a distributor for Mercury Foreign Exchange Limited, an FCA-authorized electronic money company, but the authorization attached to those payment services does not extend FCA protection to CoinCorner’s cryptoasset products.
Founded in 2014, CoinCorner says it serves more than 350,000 users across 15 markets. The company previously entered the UAE market through a 2022 partnership with Dubai-based Seed Group covering Bitcoin trading, storage and payment services.
UK crypto custody faces new FCA rules in 2027
CoinCorner has introduced Vault as the UK prepares to place crypto custody under a full authorization system.
As crypto.news reported in June, the FCA’s new cryptoasset regime is scheduled to take effect on Oct. 25, 2027. The rules will cover custodians, trading platforms, stablecoin issuers, staking providers and other intermediaries.
Firms seeking to conduct regulated crypto activities will have an application window running from Sept. 30, 2026, through Feb. 28, 2027. Existing registrations under the UK’s anti-money laundering rules will not automatically become authorizations under the new Financial Services and Markets Act framework.
The regulator plans to apply requirements covering custody, capital, operational resilience, disclosures, market conduct and consumer protection. Companies may also need to show that they can withstand market stress and maintain financial resources against risks carried on their balance sheets.
In August, US trading platform Robinhood secured FCA registration under the existing anti-money laundering system before the new framework takes effect. More than 50 companies were listed on the FCA’s cryptoasset register at the time, including Kraken, Ripple, BlackRock and BNY.
For American customers, AnchorWatch advertises a separate multi-institution service using a two-of-three arrangement with CoinCorner and US custodian BitGo. Its website says insurance for that configuration is optional for US users, with indicative pricing beginning at $4,000 for every $1 million of coverage and final premiums subject to underwriting review.
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