IBM Set to Launch Platform for Managing Digital Assets

IBM plans to launch a platform that will enable financial institutions, governments and corporations to manage digital assets across various blockchains while meeting their compliance obligations.

The IBM Digital Asset Haven is being developed in collaboration with Dfns, a digital wallet infrastructure provider that has created 15 million wallets for 250 clients, the companies said in a Monday (Oct. 27) press release.

The platform will combine IBM’s infrastructure and security with Dfns’ digital asset custody and management capabilities, according to the release.

It features transaction lifecycle management that supports the blockchain transaction process across more than 40 connected public and private blockchains; governance and entitlement management for wallet access, policy enforcement and transaction approvals; and integrated third-party solutions that accelerate deployment, per the release.

The platform is built on IBM’s infrastructure for secured digital asset operations and enables secured cold storage operations, which are required by a growing number of regulatory bodies, the release said.

IBM expects to release the IBM Digital Asset Haven via software-as-a-service and hybrid SaaS using LinuxONE and/or IBM Z in the fourth quarter, and on-premises in the second quarter of 2026, per the release.

“This new, unified platform delivers the resilience and data governance [clients] have been asking for, empowering governments and enterprises to build the next generation of financial services,” Tom McPherson, general manager, IBM Z and LinuxONE, said in the release.

Dfns CEO Clarisse Hagège said in the release: “Together with IBM, we’ve built a platform that goes beyond custody to orchestrate the full digital asset ecosystem, paving the way for digital assets to move from pilot programs to production at a global scale.”

Dfns announced in January that it raised $16 million in a Series A funding round to expand the adoption of its crypto wallet infrastructure for institutional clients.

The company said at the time that it had shifted the focus of its wallet-as-a-service platform for crypto assets to institutional clients two years earlier and that it positioned itself as “the most secure blockchain wallet infrastructure.”

When IBM launched its LinuxONE 4 Express in February 2024, the company said this hybrid cloud and artificial intelligence platform was designed to help clients address new and traditional use cases, including digital assets.