Casa, a popular cryptocurrency self-custody firm, has added support for Ethereum to its services. This completes an expansion plan announced late last year, and now the Casa app provides private key management services for both Bitcoin (BTC) and Ether (ETH). The company is also planning to roll out support for other Ethereum-related assets such as non-fungible tokens (NFTs), ERC-20 tokens, and stablecoins.
The recent collapse of centralized platforms such as Celsius, BlockFi, FTX, and the legal issues facing Binance and Coinbase have left crypto consumers wary. Companies like Jack Dorsey’s Block (SQ) have started to move into the self-custody space, and Casa, a five-year veteran of the area, is reasserting its position by offering private-key management services to Ether holders.
Securing ETH has consistently been our most frequent customer request, said Casa CEO Nick Neuman. That was the core driver behind the decision to build Ethereum support in the first place. Casa’s services rely on multisignature or multisig functionality. This requires more than one signature to spend funds, and a Casa user holding Ether in a 2-of-3 multisig would have three potential keys. If the user loses one key, Casa would help sign transactions with the third key in its custody, ensuring the user’s funds remain accessible.
We’ve seen all the problems that come from using centralized custodians, Neuman said. We’ve seen how important it is to get the average person holding their own keys. We’re just providing the software to make it easier to use those keys.