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Financial players' interest in digital assets continues to grow. IBM intends to position itself at the heart of this dynamic.
According to our information, the American group is preparing to launch, by the end of 2025, a crypto services platform for its institutional clients (companies and organisations), primarily banks.
IBM currently equips several thousand financial institutions around the world with software and hardware solutions. Many of them are interested in digital assets, but have not yet taken the plunge - not least because of the issues surrounding wallets and retention (read our report).
"It's still difficult to integrate crypto solutions into our existing systems", confides the head of innovation at a major French bank already involved in digital asset services.
Simplifying banks' access to digital assets
This is precisely what "Digital Asset Haven" wants to solve. Developed over the past year, the platform will enable customers to manage, secure and integrate digital assets - from storage to transaction - directly into their existing infrastructures.
"The aim of this partnership is to offer the best of IBM's integration with Dfns' storage, wallet and payment services", emphasises Clarisse Hagège, CEO of Dfns.
A strategic partnership with Dfns
The platform is based on technology from Dfns, a French specialist in digital wallet infrastructures. The company, which is one of the main challengers to market leaders Fireblocks and Ledger, boasts more than 15 million wallets created for more than 250 institutional customers. DFNS raised $16 million in early 2025.
Also according to our information, Digital Asset Haven will be compatible with more than 40 public and private blockchains, and will give IBM customers access to on-chain return opportunities.
After logistics and food, IBM is tackling finance
IBM is not new to blockchain. The group has made a name for itself in recent years with traceability solutions for the agri-food and logistics industries, notably via Hyperledger, its private blockchain environment.
With Digital Asset Haven, IBM now intends to address the reluctance of some financial institutions in a market that has exploded over the past year with a growing number of banks launching services.
Citi announced the launch of digital asset custody services a few weeks ago, other European banks such as Santander are already doing so, not to mention all the banks working on stablecoins.
"Most banks are not going to create all their digital asset services themselves. Instead, they're going to use white-label third-party services," points out one industry insider.
IBM isn't the only one to have realised the value of having such services. Sopra Steria and Wyden are also developing similar offerings for financial institutions.
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