Anchorage Adds Etherlink Custody for Institutional Investors

Anchorage Digital Bank, the first federally chartered crypto bank in the United States, has expanded its custody offering to include Etherlink assets on the Tezos layer-2 network. The new support covers Etherlink token custody via segregated accounts at Anchorage for institutional clients, according to an announcement shared with Cointelegraph.

The update adds custody support for Etherlink and seven specific assets, including xU3O8—an asset designed to provide tokenized exposure to physical uranium—alongside several other Etherlink-issued tokens.

Key takeaways

Anchorage now supports custody for Etherlink assets through segregated accounts at the federally chartered bank. Among the newly supported tokens is xU3O8, which represents ownership exposure to physical uranium without requiring direct commodity handling. The Etherlink assets added include wrapped and liquid staking variants (WXTZ, stXTZ) as well as stablecoins (USDT, USDC, USDSM) and wrapped Ether (WETH). CoinMarketCap data shows xU3O8 has a market capitalization just above $9 million at current price levels. Tokenized commodity exposure has drawn more institutional interest as settlement mechanics move from “weeks” to “minutes,” Anchorage says.

Anchorage adds Etherlink custody for institutional segregated accounts

Anchorage’s integration enables institutional clients to custody assets issued on Etherlink—an Ethereum Virtual Machine-compatible layer-2 network that settles on Tezos—through segregated custody accounts at the bank. This matters for regulated participants that want crypto asset storage within a bank-grade framework, rather than relying solely on exchange custody or non-bank intermediaries.

In practical terms, segregated accounts are intended to keep client holdings segregated from other assets under the custodian’s control, which is typically a key requirement for institutions managing risk, compliance obligations, and reporting.

Seven new Etherlink assets, including tokenized uranium exposure

Alongside Etherlink itself, Anchorage said it now provides custody support for seven assets on the network. The list includes wrapped XTZ (WXTZ) and liquid staking token stXTZ, as well as wrapped Ether (WETH). It also covers stablecoins USDT, USDC, and USDSM.

The headline addition is xU3O8, a token that represents ownership exposure to physical uranium. Rather than requiring investors to source, store, or manage the physical commodity directly, xU3O8 is structured to offer a more accessible route to uranium exposure within crypto infrastructure.

At current price levels, CoinMarketCap data shows xU3O8 has a market cap just above $9 million.

Why tokenized commodities are changing the settlement playbook

Anchorage pointed to a structural shift that tokenization can bring to traditional commodity workflows. Heavier involvement from intermediaries, longer settlement timelines, and higher minimum investment sizes have historically limited physical uranium exposure for many investors, the bank said.

According to Anchorage, tokenization enables transfers and settlement in minutes rather than weeks. For institutional users—especially those operating with tighter operational cycles—shorter settlement windows can reduce time-to-execution and operational friction, even when the underlying exposure is still tied to physical assets.

That said, investors should still distinguish between the asset’s representation on-chain and the physical asset’s custody and settlement logistics, which are not always identical across tokenization offerings. Anchorage’s update focuses on custody at the bank level; questions about redemption mechanics, governance, and physical asset arrangements would ultimately depend on the token’s broader ecosystem documentation.

Not the first custodian—Hex Trust also supports xU3O8 on Etherlink

Anchorage is not the only institutional custodian moving into Etherlink-based uranium exposure. In August 2025, digital asset custodian Hex Trust integrated Etherlink to offer custody for xU3O8 and other Etherlink-issued assets, as earlier coverage from Cointelegraph reported in an article on the Hex Trust integration.

By adding Etherlink custody now, Anchorage is effectively broadening the set of federally chartered or bank-oriented custody options for tokenized physical commodity exposure on the Tezos ecosystem.

For institutional allocators, the competitive implication is clear: more qualified custodians supporting the same token ecosystem can reduce operational complexity when building multi-asset portfolios and may improve availability for investors who already require bank-style custody controls.

Even so, institutional demand will likely remain sensitive to details beyond custody—such as liquidity, issuance and settlement structures, and the practical ability to enter and exit exposure efficiently. Investors watching this space should track how Ethereum-compatible layer-2 adoption on Tezos progresses, and whether additional custodians expand support for Etherlink token ecosystems that include real-world asset representations like xU3O8.

This article was originally published as Anchorage Adds Etherlink Custody for Institutional Investors on Crypto Breaking News – your trusted source for crypto news, Bitcoin news, and blockchain updates.