Onramp vs Casa: Which Bitcoin Custody Model Is Right for You?

Onramp and Casa both serve serious, long-term Bitcoin holders who have thought carefully about security, but they answer the custody question in fundamentally different ways. Casa is a self-custody key-management platform where the client holds their own keys in a multisignature vault, with Casa providing the tooling, health checks, recovery support, and an inheritance product to make self-custody more manageable. Onramp is a Bitcoin-only financial platform built on a Multi-Institution Custody foundation it has operated since 2023, spanning custody, brokerage, an earn account, the Onramp Card, Bitcoin-backed loans through Arch Lending, an optional Bitcoin IRA, integrated inheritance, and the Onramp Terminal, structured across three tiers that begin with a free Finance account and scale to institutional-grade custody. Both are legitimate answers to the Bitcoin custody question. Here is how they actually compare.

Key Takeaways:

• Casa is a self-custody platform. The client retains direct possession of their own keys at all times, holding two keys across separate hardware devices while Casa holds one recovery key. Casa provides the tooling, structure, and support to make multisignature self-custody more manageable and more secure. For holders whose primary value is sovereignty and direct key control, this is a strong, well-regarded product.
• Onramp is a Bitcoin-only financial platform built on Multi-Institution Custody. Three independent regulated institutions (Onramp, BitGo Trust, and CoinCover) each hold one key in a 2-of-3 architecture, and no single institution can move client Bitcoin without the client's direction. The client holds no key and bears no key-management burden. On top of that foundation, Onramp spans three tiers: a free Finance account ($0/month) with Bitcoin brokerage at 0.85%, an earn account paying up to 3% (Onramp-funded rewards, not interest), the Onramp Card with 0.5% Bitcoin cash-back, Bitcoin-backed loans through Arch Lending, custody at BitGo Trust with Lloyd's of London insurance, and the Onramp Terminal; Onramp Core ($250/month), which adds Multi-Institution Custody, an included Bitcoin IRA, integrated inheritance, individual-vault Proof of Reserves, and Lloyd's coverage up to $100 million per incident; and Onramp Private, which adds dedicated account management and Virtual Family Office access.
• This is a fundamental difference in approach, not a better-and-worse version of the same thing. Casa is built on the premise that the holder should control their own keys directly. Onramp is built on the premise that distributing key control across multiple independent regulated institutions removes reliance on any single party while removing the operational burden of key management from the client entirely.
• Both are legitimate answers to the Bitcoin custody question. Which one is right depends on how you weigh direct sovereignty, operational burden, inheritance simplicity, and financial-services depth. Onramp is a self-custody ally, and self-custody through a platform like Casa is a legitimate and respectable choice for many holders.
• Casa is purpose-built for custody and key security. Onramp combines custody with a broader suite of Bitcoin financial services (brokerage, earn, the Onramp Card, loans, an IRA, inheritance, and the Onramp Terminal). The two products reflect different scopes, not just different approaches to holding keys.

The Fundamental Difference

Casa is a self-custody key-management platform. Onramp is a Bitcoin-only financial platform built on Multi-Institution Custody architecture. Both starting points are legitimate, and they produce two very different products for two different kinds of holders.

Casa is built on a clear thesis: many Bitcoin holders want to self-custody but struggle with the operational complexity of doing it safely. Casa's answer is a software platform and advisory service that makes multisignature self-custody more manageable without ever removing the holder from the key structure. The client holds the majority of keys, manages the hardware devices, and retains direct control. Casa provides the tooling, the health checks, the recovery support, and an inheritance product. The holder remains the ultimate owner in every meaningful sense. For holders who view Bitcoin as a hedge against systemic risk and who want maximal sovereignty, that direct key control is the point.

Onramp reflects a different premise. Rather than helping holders manage their own keys, Onramp distributes key control across three independent regulated institutions in a structure where no single one can act alone. The client holds no key directly. The security comes from the architecture of the arrangement rather than from individual control, and the client's experience is a financial relationship rather than a key-management exercise. On top of that custody foundation, Onramp adds a full suite of Bitcoin financial services.

The strategic distinction matters, and neither answer is wrong. Casa gives the client maximal sovereignty and direct key control. Onramp removes the burden of the client holding keys and enables an institutional inheritance handoff with no seed phrases for heirs, plus a full financial-services platform on top. Both are legitimate choices for different holders. Understanding the two models clearly is the most useful thing this comparison can do.

Casa at a Glance

Casa launched in 2018 with a focused mission: make multisignature self-custody manageable for serious holders. It is a security platform, and a well-regarded one. The client is always in the key structure, and Casa provides the software, hardware guidance, and support around it.

Casa plans and features:

• Casa Standard ($250/year) provides a 2-of-3 multisignature vault where the client holds two keys across separate hardware devices and Casa holds one key as an emergency backup. Casa can never spend funds unilaterally. Their key is a recovery mechanism, not a control mechanism, and the 2-of-3 structure means losing one key does not mean losing your Bitcoin.
• Casa Premium ($2,100/year) upgrades to a 3-of-5 vault, with five total keys distributed across the client's devices and Casa's recovery key, three of which are required to sign any transaction. Premium adds hardware devices, video-verified support for sensitive account actions, and family co-management for shared custody and inheritance planning.
• A Private Client tier offers bespoke advisory services and custom pricing for high-value holders with complex needs, including advanced inheritance planning with enhanced verification.
• Inheritance is included on all plans. The standard process works through inactivity detection: a designated recipient initiates a request in the app, Casa notifies the original account holder to confirm inactivity, and after a six-month verification period the vault transfers to the recipient. Standard inheritance typically requires no invasive KYC or legal documentation. The Private Client tier offers an enhanced flow using government IDs at setup and a death certificate at transfer, which removes the waiting period.
• Casa supports Bitcoin, Ethereum, USDC, and USDT within its vaults, so it is not Bitcoin-only. Buy and sell functionality is provided through Zero Hash, a licensed money transmitter, integrated within the Casa app.
• Casa provides a Sovereign Recovery option, with instructions and support for open-source tools including Sparrow and Electrum, so clients can recover Bitcoin independently without the Casa app as long as they hold their own two keys.

Casa is purpose-built for custody and key security. It does not offer cash-bearing accounts, an IRA, a debit card, or Bitcoin-backed loans. For holders who want a focused, sovereignty-preserving custody tool and are comfortable managing hardware devices, Casa is a credible and respected choice.

Onramp at a Glance

Onramp is a comprehensive Bitcoin financial platform structured across three tiers, all built on a Multi-Institution Custody foundation Onramp has operated since 2023. You enter through a free Finance account and the platform scales as your Bitcoin position grows.

The free entry point: the Onramp Finance tier ($0/month). The free Finance tier consolidates the core of a Bitcoin financial life on one platform:

• Bitcoin brokerage at 0.85% on one-time buys in all 50 US states, with zero-fee recurring buys for dollar-cost-averaging. Brokerage is also available internationally in many countries.
• Earn account paying up to 3% (Onramp-funded rewards from corporate revenue, eligibility tied to completing at least one bitcoin trade per month, not interest or yield). Earn rewards are not currently available to clients in New York, though a Finance account can still be opened there.
• The Onramp Card, a Visa debit card with 0.5% cash-back paid in dollars and convertible to Bitcoin in one click, accepted anywhere Visa is accepted.
• Bitcoin-backed loans through Arch Lending, where Arch is the lender and holds the Bitcoin collateral with Anchorage, a regulated qualified custodian, for the life of the loan. Bitcoin-only collateral, up to 50% loan-to-value, fixed rates for the loan term, no rehypothecation, and an optional deferred interest structure where interest is paid at the end of the loan rather than monthly.
• Custody at BitGo Trust, a regulated qualified custodian under South Dakota and New York trust banking law and one of the most established Bitcoin custodians in the United States, with Lloyd's of London insurance.
• The Onramp Terminal: a Bitcoin-only research and data platform with thousands of interactive charts covering on-chain metrics, macro overlays, miner economics, ETF flows, and derivatives positioning, included free with every account.
• Direct human client service through Onramp Client Services.
• Bitcoin IRA available as a $100/month add-on at the Finance tier, custodied at BitGo Trust.

The custody upgrade: Onramp Core ($250/month). Core adds Multi-Institution Custody (MIC), where three independent regulated institutions (Onramp, BitGo Trust, and CoinCover) each hold one key in a 2-of-3 architecture. Transactions are initiated from the client's Onramp account, and two of three institutions work at the client's direction to execute. No single institution, including Onramp itself, can move client Bitcoin without the client's direction. Core also includes a Bitcoin IRA in a Multi-Institution Custody vault, integrated inheritance planning with a built-in beneficiary designation, Lloyd's of London coverage up to $100 million per incident, Guardian Plus security services, real-time Proof of Reserves at the individual vault level, brokerage at 0.65%, earn rewards up to 4%, and 1% Bitcoin cash-back on the Onramp Card.

The top tier: Onramp Private (0.04% of AUM per month). Private adds a dedicated account manager, reduced trading fees, Virtual Family Office access for estate and dynasty trust planning, brokerage at 0.32%, earn rewards up to 5%, and 1.5% Bitcoin cash-back.

The thesis: Bitcoin is savings, dollars are working capital. Onramp is built around a specific framing: dollars in the platform are working capital, not savings. They earn Onramp-funded rewards, enable spending through the Onramp Card, facilitate borrowing through Arch Lending, and ultimately flow into Bitcoin accumulation. Bitcoin in custody is the savings account, and everything else is a tool to help clients accumulate more of it. Clients typically start on the free Finance tier and upgrade to Core when their Bitcoin position grows to the point where Multi-Institution Custody, an included IRA, integrated inheritance, and the higher-coverage Lloyd's policy matter more.

The Two Custody Models: Self-Custody and Multi-Institution Custody

The distinction between Casa and Onramp is not that one uses multisignature and the other does not. Both use multisig. The distinction is who holds the keys, and what burden that places on the client.

In Casa's model, the client holds the majority of keys. On the Standard plan, that is two keys across separate hardware devices in a 2-of-3 vault, with Casa holding one recovery key that can never spend funds unilaterally. The client is in direct control and manages the hardware. This is pure self-custody, and it delivers maximal sovereignty. The tradeoff is operational: the client is responsible for storing keys, maintaining the hardware devices, and sustaining that competence over time, in some cases over decades.

In Onramp's model, three independent regulated institutions (Onramp, BitGo Trust, and CoinCover) each hold one key in a 2-of-3 architecture. Transactions are initiated from the client's Onramp account, two of three institutions work at the client's direction to sign, and no single institution, including Onramp itself, can move client Bitcoin without the client's direction. With Onramp Multi-Institution Custody, the client does not hold a key and bears no key-management burden. If any one institution experiences a breach, failure, or internal bad actor, client Bitcoin is not at risk, because no single party can act alone. The vaults are segregated, client-titled, off Onramp's balance sheet, and bankruptcy-remote, with real-time Proof of Reserves at the individual vault level. At Core and above, the arrangement carries Lloyd's of London coverage up to $100 million per incident.

The security question each holder has to answer is which arrangement better fits their situation, technical capability, operational discipline, and tolerance for key-management complexity. Holders who prioritize direct sovereignty and are comfortable managing hardware will favor Casa's self-custody model. Holders who prioritize institutional distribution and operational simplicity, and who do not want to hold keys themselves, will favor Onramp's Multi-Institution Custody. There is no universal answer, and both are legitimate.

Inheritance: Two Different Approaches

Both Casa and Onramp take inheritance seriously, and both approaches have genuine strengths. They reflect the underlying philosophy of each platform.

Casa's standard inheritance works through inactivity detection rather than legal documentation. A designated recipient initiates a request in the Casa app, Casa notifies the original account holder to verify inactivity, and after a six-month verification period the vault transfers to the recipient. No death certificate or KYC is required for standard inheritance, which is a meaningful feature for holders who value privacy and minimal bureaucracy. Two things are worth understanding. First, because the trigger is inactivity, a holder who is unresponsive for an extended period due to illness or travel could inadvertently start the process while still alive, though Casa's advisors monitor for this and the holder can revoke access at any time. Second, gaining access to a self-custody vault is not the same as establishing legal title, and self-custody Bitcoin is generally treated as a probate asset, so a recipient may still need to complete probate to establish clear title. Casa acknowledges this and recommends pairing their inheritance solution with a broader estate plan, and their Private Client tier addresses part of it by requiring a death certificate for enhanced verification.

Onramp Core includes integrated inheritance built around a formal beneficiary designation combined with a death certificate. Because Onramp's Multi-Institution Custody structure is treated as a non-probate asset with a designated beneficiary, the transfer happens outside of probate, so legal title and possession transfer together to the named beneficiary. The Onramp team guides heirs through the process, the Multi-Institution Custody architecture operates in the background, and there are no seed phrases or hardware wallets for the heir to learn or manage. For families where the primary beneficiary is a non-technical spouse or adult child, this institutional handoff is one of the largest practical reasons holders choose Onramp Core. For more complex estate situations, Onramp also supports trust structures, dynasty planning, and multi-generational wealth transfer as part of the broader custody relationship.

Both approaches are thoughtful. Casa's is privacy-preserving and sovereignty-aligned. Onramp's resolves cleanly on both the access and legal-title fronts and removes any self-custody handoff for the heir. The right one depends on what a holder values and how technical their heirs are.

Financial Services Beyond Custody

This is where the scope of the two platforms diverges most. Casa is purpose-built for custody and key security, and it does that job well. Onramp is a full Bitcoin financial platform built on top of a custody foundation. For holders who want their custody relationship to also cover brokerage, spending, borrowing, retirement, and research, this is a meaningful difference.

Brokerage and accumulation. Onramp offers Bitcoin brokerage at 0.85% on one-time buys at the free Finance tier, dropping to 0.65% at Core and 0.32% at Private, in all 50 states and internationally in many countries, with zero-fee recurring buys for dollar-cost-averaging. The earn account pays up to 3% in Onramp-funded rewards at Finance, scaling to 4% at Core and 5% at Private, and the Onramp Card pays 0.5% Bitcoin cash-back at Finance, scaling to 1% at Core and 1.5% at Private. Casa provides buy and sell functionality through Zero Hash but does not offer an integrated earn account or a Bitcoin cash-back debit card.

Bitcoin IRA. Casa does not offer an IRA. Onramp offers Bitcoin IRAs as a $100/month add-on at the free Finance tier, custodied at BitGo Trust, or included in the monthly fee at Onramp Core, custodied in a Multi-Institution Custody vault. Onramp Core is a rare option combining a tax-advantaged Bitcoin retirement account with Multi-Institution Custody architecture.

Bitcoin-backed loans. Casa does not offer loans. Onramp offers Bitcoin-backed loans through Arch Lending, where Arch is the lender and holds the Bitcoin collateral with Anchorage, a regulated qualified custodian, for the life of the loan. Loans are Bitcoin-only, offered up to 50% loan-to-value, carry fixed rates and no rehypothecation of the collateral, and include an optional deferred interest structure. The loan collateral sits outside the Multi-Institution Custody arrangement, held at Anchorage for the life of the loan.

Research and data. Casa focuses on custody and security and does not offer a research platform. Onramp includes the Onramp Terminal at no additional cost at every tier, including the free Finance tier: a Bitcoin-only research and data platform with thousands of interactive charts covering on-chain metrics, macro overlays, miner economics, ETF flows, and derivatives positioning.

These are different products serving different needs, not a better and worse version of the same thing. A holder who wants a focused, sovereignty-preserving custody tool is well served by Casa. A holder who wants custody alongside a full Bitcoin financial relationship is well served by Onramp.

Honest Tradeoffs

Where Casa has a genuine advantage.

• Direct key sovereignty: the client retains direct possession of the majority of keys at all times. For holders whose primary value is self-sovereignty, this is the defining feature.
• Privacy: standard Casa inheritance requires no KYC or legal documentation.
• Lower entry cost for pure custody: the Standard plan at $250/year provides genuine multisig self-custody with inheritance included.
• Resilience if Casa closes: because the client holds the majority of keys, Bitcoin can be recovered independently using open-source tools like Sparrow and Electrum through Casa's Sovereign Recovery option.
• Multi-asset support: Casa supports Bitcoin, Ethereum, USDC, and USDT for holders with assets beyond Bitcoin.

Where Onramp has a genuine advantage.

• No key-management burden: the client holds no key and bears no responsibility for key security, storage, or recovery. The institutional layer handles all of it.
• Distributed custody architecture: three independent regulated institutions with separate infrastructure, legal agreements, and operational teams each hold one key in a structure where no single party can act alone, with segregated, client-titled, bankruptcy-remote vaults and real-time individual-vault Proof of Reserves.
• Insurance: Lloyd's of London coverage up to $100 million per incident at Core and above.
• Inheritance simplicity: a formal beneficiary designation plus a death certificate and a guided institutional handoff, with no seed phrases or hardware for the heir to manage, and transfer outside of probate.
• A complete Bitcoin financial platform: brokerage, an earn account, the Onramp Card, Bitcoin-backed loans through Arch Lending, a Bitcoin IRA, inheritance, and the Onramp Terminal, all on one platform.
• International availability alongside a free entry point through the Finance tier.

When to Choose Each

Casa is the right answer for holders whose primary value is direct sovereignty, who want to hold and manage their own keys, who are comfortable maintaining multisignature hardware over time, who value privacy in the inheritance process, and who want a focused, well-built custody and security tool. Self-custody through Casa is a legitimate and respectable choice, and Onramp is a self-custody ally, not a competitor to the idea of holding your own keys.

Onramp is the right answer for holders who want institutional-grade security without the operational burden of managing keys, and who want a full Bitcoin financial platform alongside their custody relationship. You enter through the free Finance tier, which consolidates brokerage at 0.85%, an earn account, the Onramp Card with Bitcoin cash-back, Bitcoin-backed loans through Arch Lending, an optional Bitcoin IRA, the Onramp Terminal, and qualified-custodian custody at BitGo Trust on a single platform. As the position grows, the platform scales to Multi-Institution Custody, an included IRA, and integrated inheritance at Onramp Core, and to dedicated management and a Virtual Family Office at Onramp Private. Onramp built its custody foundation first and has operated Multi-Institution Custody continuously since 2023.

For many holders, the two are not mutually exclusive. Using Casa as a self-custody tool during active accumulation while holding and growing the long-term core of a Bitcoin position at Onramp, and upgrading from Finance into Core as the position and complexity warrant, is a reasonable pattern. Each platform serves a part of the Bitcoin journey the other does not, and both are legitimate answers to the custody question.

For Onramp's broader framework on Bitcoin custody architecture, see What Is Multi-Institution Bitcoin Custody? For related head-to-head comparisons, see Unchained vs Onramp and River vs Onramp. For a deeper look at inheritance, see What Happens to Your Bitcoin When You Die? If you want to walk through your situation with the Onramp team without any obligation, book a consultation at https://onrampbitcoin.com/consult.

Disclosures

Onramp Earn rewards are discretionary marketing incentives from Onramp's corporate revenue. Not interest, yield, or a return on your balance. Requires active platform engagement including at least one bitcoin trade per month. Rewards may change or end at any time. USDB is not FDIC insured; stablecoin risk applies. Bitcoin is volatile and may lose value. Onramp is not a bank. Past performance does not guarantee future results.