Onramp vs AnchorWatch: Multi-Institution Custody, Insurance and Fees Compared

Onramp and AnchorWatch are the two providers most often compared for multi-institution custody, where independent institutions protect your bitcoin and you never hold a key. Onramp has operated the model since April 2023 and holds $1B+ in bitcoin under it. AnchorWatch launched its own multi-institution vault on July 21, 2026, and its FAQ says Onramp pioneered the category.

The two are built differently. Onramp's vault is plain 2-of-3 bitcoin multisig, and BitGo secures its key offline. AnchorWatch's MIC vault runs on Trident, its proprietary custody platform, under a spending policy it hasn't published, and AnchorWatch hasn't said how BitGo's key in that vault is secured. They also differ in how insurance works and in what sits around custody: AnchorWatch writes insurance policies in the customer's name, and Onramp adds buying, a Bitcoin IRA and Transfer on Death inheritance.

This page compares the two using each company's published information, and each AnchorWatch fact links to its source. We'll update the page if AnchorWatch publishes the details marked here as undisclosed. Terms change, so confirm current details with each provider before you decide. Nothing here is financial, legal or tax advice.

Key Takeaways

• Onramp pioneered the model. Onramp has operated Multi-Institution Custody since April 2023 and holds $1B+ in bitcoin under it. AnchorWatch launched its MIC vault on July 21, 2026, and its own FAQ says Onramp pioneered the category.
• Different construction. Onramp's vault is plain 2-of-3 bitcoin multisig with one spending rule: two of the three institutional keys must sign. Optional delays are set through Onramp Guardian, outside the script. AnchorWatch's MIC vault is a policy written by Trident, its proprietary vault platform, and AnchorWatch says it builds a time-locked recovery layer into every Trident vault. It hasn't published the MIC policy. Trident's code isn't public, though AnchorWatch lists outside reviewers, including Halborn and Doyensec.
• Different disclosure on BitGo's key. At Onramp, BitGo secures its key offline and signs only after its own video verification with the client. AnchorWatch hasn't disclosed whether BitGo secures its key offline in its MIC vault, or what BitGo checks before it signs.
• Different third institution. Onramp's individual and IRA vaults are protected by Onramp, BitGo, and CoinCover. AnchorWatch lists AnchorWatch, BitGo, and CoinCorner as its MIC keyholders.
• Insurance is AnchorWatch's core product. AnchorWatch is a Lloyd's of London coverholder and writes optional policies in the customer's own name, priced separately from custody. Onramp maintains custody insurance through Canopius, a Lloyd's of London syndicate: up to $50M in aggregate coverage across our custody operations. Onramp pays the premium.
• Different product focus. AnchorWatch offers more vault types and sells more insurance lines, including Flagship vaults where you hold your own signing key or keys. Every Onramp vault uses Multi-Institution Custody, and Onramp builds its financial services around that one standard.
• Onramp offers more around custody: buying and selling bitcoin with free recurring buys, a Bitcoin IRA (Traditional, Roth and SEP), Transfer on Death inheritance, business accounts with approvals, and Onramp Guardian withdrawal controls.

Onramp and AnchorWatch at a Glance

Facts last checked October 30, 2026. AnchorWatch facts are sourced in each cell.

How Each Custody Model Works

Onramp. Three institutions protect your bitcoin. No one of them can lose it, move it, or use it, and nothing moves without your permission. Multi-institution custody works like a bank vault that needs two keyholders to open: it takes two of the three (Onramp, BitGo, and CoinCover) to move your bitcoin. Onramp, BitGo, and CoinCover each secure a key offline, never on a consumer device, in a 2-of-3 multisig. You never hold a key yourself. There are no hardware wallets, seed phrases, backups, or PINs to manage. The model is built to survive the failure of any one institution, including Onramp: the remaining two can still reach the quorum. Business vaults are protected by Onramp, Tetra Trust, and CoinCover.

AnchorWatch. Every AnchorWatch vault runs on Trident, its own custody platform, which writes spending rules, timelocks and recovery paths into the vault's on-chain policy (Trident). It offers three vaults:

• Flagship 1-Key: you hold one hardware signing device, and AnchorWatch holds additional keys.
• Flagship 3-Key: a client-side 2-of-3 alongside AnchorWatch's keyset, built for families, trusts and companies.
• MIC vault: a 2-of-3 arrangement with AnchorWatch, BitGo and CoinCorner, where you initiate transactions and never hold a signing device.

(Flagship, MIC, FAQ)

How Each Vault Is Built

Both products put three institutions in a 2-of-3 arrangement with BitGo among them. The quorums themselves are built differently.

Onramp's vault is plain 2-of-3 multisig, the construction bitcoin has supported since 2012. It has one spending rule: two of the three institutional keys must sign. There are no timelocks or alternative paths in the script. Clients who want a time delay can add one through Onramp Guardian, which also offers a withdrawal freeze. Onramp applies those controls before it signs. A timelock in a script is enforced by the bitcoin network itself, while a Guardian delay is a legal and operational control. Onramp's view is that time controls belong at that layer, so a mistake in a policy can't lock bitcoin in place.

AnchorWatch's vaults are written by Trident, which it describes as its proprietary vault architecture. Trident uses miniscript, an open policy language, to combine multisig with timelocks and recovery paths. AnchorWatch says a client can verify a vault's behavior on-chain against its descriptor and policy, and that uninsured vaults remain usable through Bitcoin Core if AnchorWatch becomes unavailable. It hasn't published the spending policy for its MIC vault. Trident's code isn't public, and AnchorWatch says it has been audited or reviewed by Halborn, Doyensec, cryptographers at Blockstream and Lloyd's technical underwriting team. We couldn't find those reports published. Onramp's platform software isn't public either. The difference is in the script: Onramp's is a standard multisig, and AnchorWatch's is a custom policy.

Recovery works differently too. AnchorWatch's FAQ describes a time-based path that lets AnchorWatch and CoinCorner restore access after a delay. Onramp has no separate path in its script. If Onramp becomes unresponsive, BitGo and CoinCover carry out a documented recovery together after a defined waiting period, and those two institutions already form a quorum. AnchorWatch and CoinCorner also sell a separate two-key vault together, in which each holds one key.

Before depositing with any multi-institution provider, ask for the full spending policy and have every path explained: who can sign through it, and when. At Onramp, the answer is one path: any two of the three institutions.

Where BitGo's Key Sits

Both products name BitGo as a keyholder. What that protects depends on how BitGo secures and uses the key, and BitGo offers both offline cold storage and online co-signing.

At Onramp, BitGo secures its key offline and signs only after completing its own video verification with the client, so BitGo independently confirms each withdrawal before its signature exists.

AnchorWatch hasn't disclosed which arrangement it uses. It hasn't said whether BitGo secures its key offline, or whether BitGo verifies the full policy and destination itself before signing a transaction Trident prepares. It does say each institution signs only with the client's verified authorization, and that its process includes a video verification call with each signing institution (Jul 21, 2026 post).

Ask any provider two questions about each signing institution: is its key secured offline, and does it verify the transaction itself before it signs? At Onramp, the answer to both is yes for the two institutions that sign withdrawals.

Insurance: Two Different Approaches

Insurance is AnchorWatch's clearest strength, and it should be described accurately:

• A Lloyd's of London coverholder. AnchorWatch writes custody policies on behalf of Lloyd's syndicates.
• A policy in the customer's own name. The customer picks a limit per vault, from a $250,000 minimum up to $100M for individuals and small businesses.
• Published terms. Premium estimates (0.6% a year for Flagship and 0.8% for MIC) and a choice of a 10% or 25% deductible are on its site.
• MIC cover in the client's name. For eligible clients, the policy is tied to the bitcoin in the client's vault and is built to respond to a complete and permanent loss of the ability to move it.

(Insurance, Pricing, Jul 21, 2026 post)

For a holder who wants a dollar-denominated policy sized to their own position, and is willing to pay a premium for it, that's a real product.

Onramp starts from the architecture. Because it takes two of three independent institutions to move client bitcoin, no single institution's failure, fraud or error can move it alone. Separately, Onramp maintains custody insurance through Canopius, a Lloyd's of London syndicate: up to $50M in aggregate coverage across our custody operations. Onramp pays the premium. Any client can add dedicated cover in their own name, through Native, at about 0.58% a year of the amount insured, with lower rates on larger limits. Terms and exclusions apply.

Canopius re-underwrites the policy every year against Onramp's security controls. The covered events are specific, centered on fraud or collusion within the custody quorum. The full list of what is and isn't covered is on Onramp's custody insurance page.

The choice comes down to what you want insurance to do. If you want a policy in your own name, sized to your holdings, AnchorWatch builds its product around that. If you want the architecture to carry the protection, with insurance on the custody operations paid by Onramp, that's Onramp's model.

What Each Costs

AnchorWatch prices custody and insurance separately (Pricing).

• Custody for individuals and small businesses: a monthly fee by vault value, starting at $100 a month. The fee is the same for Flagship and MIC.
• Setup: its calculator adds a $250 setup fee.
• Insurance: optional, from a $250,000 minimum policy, with estimates of 0.6% to 0.8% of the insured amount a year.
• Example: in its calculator, a $1M MIC vault with $1M of cover comes to $2,100 in custody fees, $8,000 in estimated premium and the $250 setup fee in year one.

Onramp (Pricing):

• Custody: Multi-Institution Custody starts at $100 a month, the price of a Bitcoin IRA vault. Core starts at $250 a month or $2,400 a year and includes a Multi-Institution Custody vault, an IRA vault, inheritance planning and Guardian.
• Insurance: Onramp pays the premium on its custody insurance.
• Trading: recurring buys are free after the first purchase in each schedule, and one-time buys are 0.85% (0.65% on Core, 0.32% on Private).
• Other fees: there's no minimum to open an account or a vault, and no Onramp withdrawal fee, only the bitcoin network fee.

Compare the two at your own balance. Count custody, setup, and the insurance you'd actually buy.

Inheritance, IRA, and Business Accounts

Inheritance. Both providers make it possible to pass on bitcoin without beneficiaries needing to find a seed phrase.

• Onramp: clients name beneficiaries and sign a Transfer on Death agreement. Beneficiaries never need a seed phrase or hardware wallet. See Onramp inheritance and what happens to your bitcoin when you die.
• AnchorWatch: its Inheritance Protocol verifies beneficiaries against documentation set up at onboarding and uses recovery paths written into the vault (Inheritance).

Bitcoin IRA.

• Onramp: Traditional, Roth, and SEP IRAs held in Multi-Institution Custody, administered by Heritage IRA (Onramp IRA).
• AnchorWatch: describes IRA support through its new trust company, or through a self-directed IRA using a MIC vault with the holder's IRA administrator (FAQ).

Business accounts.

• Onramp: business and trust accounts cover LLCs, corporations, trusts, and family offices, with multi-user roles and approval controls (Business).
• AnchorWatch: offers all vaults to businesses and trusts, plus an enterprise tier with role-based access, white-label custody and APIs (Enterprise).

Product Range

AnchorWatch describes its range as a broader Bitcoin-specific product suite. It offers three vault types and sells insurance beyond custody, including kidnap and ransom, mining property, cyber, and directors and officers cover (FAQ). Onramp's insurance program covers its own operations, with distinct policies for digital asset custody, crime, cyber and technology E&O, and professional liability (Custody insurance).

Onramp takes a narrower approach. It pioneered multi-institution custody, every Onramp vault uses it, and the company's focus is building the best multi-institution custody available, with its financial services built around that standard. Onramp's view is that the stakes rise with bitcoin's price: a single custodian stays a single point of failure, and holding keys yourself means carrying more responsibility as the value grows.

If you want several types of cover from one firm, or want to hold your own signing key, AnchorWatch's range may suit you better. If you want one custody standard with buying, an IRA and inheritance built around it, Onramp's may suit you better.

Where Each Fits

AnchorWatch may fit better if you:

• want an insurance policy in your own name, with a limit you choose up to the full value of your vault, and are comfortable paying a separate premium and choosing a deductible;
• want to hold your own signing key, with an institution and time-locked recovery behind you (its Flagship vaults);
• need a qualified custodian for regulatory reasons and want its trust company;
• want related cover from the same firm, such as kidnap and ransom, or insurance for a bitcoin business.

Onramp may fit better if you:

• want the provider that pioneered multi-institution custody, with the longest operating history in the category (since April 2023, with $1B+ in bitcoin under Multi-Institution Custody);
• want plain 2-of-3 multisig with no proprietary logic in the spending policy;
• want BitGo's key secured offline, with BitGo verifying each withdrawal itself;
• want to buy bitcoin on the same platform, with free recurring buys, and hold it in the same account;
• want a Bitcoin IRA (Traditional, Roth, or SEP) in Multi-Institution Custody without assembling the pieces yourself;
• want inheritance set by a Transfer on Death agreement, with no seed phrase or hardware for your beneficiaries;
• run a business or trust that needs multi-user roles and approvals;
• would rather not go through insurance underwriting, since Onramp pays the premium on its custody insurance.

Self-custody and collaborative custody remain strong choices for holders who want to hold their own keys. See collaborative vs multi-institution custody, Onramp vs Unchained and Onramp vs Casa.

A Note on CoinCover and CoinCorner

The names are similar, but they are different companies. CoinCover is one of the three institutions protecting Onramp's individual, IRA, and business vaults. CoinCorner is listed by AnchorWatch as a keyholder in its MIC vault and as its recovery partner (MIC, FAQ).

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the difference between Onramp and AnchorWatch?

Onramp pioneered multi-institution custody and has run it since April 2023; AnchorWatch launched its MIC vault in July 2026. Both describe a 2-of-3 arrangement that includes BitGo, and in both you hold no key, but the quorums are built differently. Onramp's vault is plain 2-of-3 multisig with Onramp, BitGo, and CoinCover, and BitGo secures its key offline. AnchorWatch's MIC vault uses AnchorWatch, BitGo, and CoinCorner and runs on Trident, its proprietary platform. Onramp also offers buying and selling, a Bitcoin IRA, Transfer on Death inheritance, and business accounts. AnchorWatch also offers Flagship vaults where you hold a key, and sells optional Lloyd's of London-backed insurance in your own name.

Is AnchorWatch's multi-institution custody the same as Onramp's?

No. Both describe a 2-of-3 arrangement that includes BitGo, and in both the client holds no key, but the quorums are built differently. Onramp's vault is plain 2-of-3 multisig, and BitGo secures its key offline. AnchorWatch's MIC vault runs on Trident, its proprietary platform, under a spending policy it hasn't published, and AnchorWatch hasn't disclosed how BitGo's key is secured. Onramp has run the model since April 2023; AnchorWatch launched its MIC vault in July 2026.

Does AnchorWatch's MIC vault use proprietary technology?

Yes. AnchorWatch describes Trident as its proprietary vault architecture and says it powers every vault, including MIC. Trident writes spending policies in miniscript, an open policy language, that combine multisig with timelocks and recovery paths. Its code isn't public, though AnchorWatch says outside firms have audited or reviewed it, and AnchorWatch hasn't published its MIC spending policy. Onramp's vault is plain 2-of-3 multisig with no timelocks or alternative paths in the script.

Do Onramp vaults use timelocks?

Not in the script. Onramp's vault is plain 2-of-3 multisig. Clients who want a time delay can add one through Onramp Guardian, which also offers a withdrawal freeze. Onramp applies those controls before it signs.

How is BitGo's key secured at Onramp and at AnchorWatch?

At Onramp, BitGo secures its key offline and signs only after its own video verification with the client. AnchorWatch hasn't disclosed whether BitGo secures its key offline in its MIC vault, or what BitGo verifies before signing.

Who holds the keys in Onramp and AnchorWatch multi-institution custody?

In Onramp's Multi-Institution Custody, Onramp, BitGo, and CoinCover each secure a key offline, never on a consumer device, in a 2-of-3 multisig. You never hold a key yourself. Business vaults use Onramp, Tetra Trust, and CoinCover. AnchorWatch lists AnchorWatch, BitGo, and CoinCorner as the keyholders in its MIC vault. In its Flagship vaults, the client holds one or more hardware signing devices.

How does insurance compare between Onramp and AnchorWatch?

AnchorWatch is a Lloyd's of London coverholder that writes optional policies in the customer's name, priced separately. Its site estimates 0.6% to 0.8% of the insured amount a year, with a $250,000 minimum and a 10% or 25% deductible. Onramp maintains custody insurance through Canopius, a Lloyd's of London syndicate: up to $50M in aggregate coverage across our custody operations. Onramp pays the premium. Any client can add dedicated cover in their own name, through Native, at about 0.58% a year of the amount insured, with lower rates on larger limits. Terms and exclusions apply.

Is Onramp an AnchorWatch alternative?

Yes. Onramp pioneered multi-institution custody and is the longest-running provider of it for individuals, IRAs, and businesses. Three institutions protect your bitcoin. No one of them can lose it, move it, or use it, and nothing moves without your permission. Onramp has operated the model since April 2023 and holds $1B+ in bitcoin under Multi-Institution Custody.

How do Onramp's and AnchorWatch's fees compare?

Both start at $100 a month for custody. AnchorWatch's insurance is optional and priced separately, with a deductible the customer chooses. Onramp pays the premium on its custody insurance, and that policy has no deductible. Recurring buys on Onramp are free after the first purchase in each schedule. Full pricing is at onrampbitcoin.com/pricing.

Can I hold a Bitcoin IRA with Onramp or AnchorWatch?

Onramp offers Traditional, Roth, and SEP IRAs held in Multi-Institution Custody, administered by Heritage IRA. AnchorWatch doesn't describe a packaged IRA product. Its site says its trust company is intended to support an insured Bitcoin IRA, and that self-directed IRA holders can use a MIC vault with their IRA administrator.

How do withdrawals work with each provider?

At Onramp, a vault withdrawal requires identity verification and recorded video verification with Onramp and with BitGo. Most complete in 24 to 48 hours. Optional Onramp Guardian controls add withdrawal delays and a withdrawal freeze. For AnchorWatch's MIC vault, an authorized person confirms their identity, completes a video verification call with each signing institution, and uses a required YubiKey. AnchorWatch doesn't publish a timeline.

Disclosures

Information about AnchorWatch comes from AnchorWatch's public website and linked coverage as of October 30, 2026 and may change. AnchorWatch is not affiliated with Onramp. Onramp is a custody solution, not a custodian, and not a bank. Bitcoin is volatile, and past performance does not guarantee future results. Insurance descriptions are summaries; policy terms govern.