# kaal:claim:3936876-009

**Claim.** Traditional custody has become highly concentrated, with four large banks holding roughly $114 trillion in assets under custody at the end of the first quarter of 2018, and barriers to entry make it likely that this concentration continues.

**Type.** empirical  **Support.** evidenced

**Holds when.**

- United States custody market as of 2018

**Source quote.**

> At the end of the first quarter of 2018, these four banks had approximately $114 trillion in assets under custody.48 Recent trends suggest this highly concentrated model will continue, as ongoing barriers to entry have prevented other firms from challenging these incumbents.

**From.** Wulf A. Kaal, Hayley Howe, *Custody of Digital Assets* (2021), II.1 Custody Requirements for Traditional Assets, page 10

**Cite as.** Wulf A. Kaal, Hayley Howe, Custody of Digital Assets (2021). SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3936876

**Verify.** sha256 of source PDF `9bc0903d01910460298e754c451f027df4324367359800a98ee8e638d94aff55` at https://raw.githubusercontent.com/wulfkaal/Academic-Papers/main/papers/pdf/Kaal%20and%20Howe%20-%202021%20-%20Custody%20of%20Digital%20Assets.pdf

**Topics.** defi, risk-and-incentives, systemic-risk, economics

**Keywords.** custody-concentration, barriers-to-entry, banks, market-structure

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