Press release

Balance Introduces Its Next Generation Digital Asset Custody Backend.

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Balance, Canada’s oldest and largest digital asset custodian, is pleased to announce the successful rollout of its next generation digital asset custody backend. After close to a year and a half of careful research, development, and testing, the third major iteration of its backend called Custody 3.1 has been deployed across its fleet of offline hardware security modules (HSMs) and switched to production use.

“As the only built-in-Canada digital asset custodian, our proprietary offline storage technology brings our clients a level of security which is hard, if not virtually impossible to achieve using third-party vendors such as Ledger Vault and Fireblocks. We are extremely proud of the work our information security team did in delivering a truly unique solution which features world-class security, flexibility, and is frankly a bit of an engineering marvel,” says Balance’s CEO, George Bordianu.

Key highlights of Custody 3.1 include:

  • Custom-built HSMs: The private keys are generated, stored, and managed in Canada entirely offline, on custom built hardware security modules. Balance produces its own CC EAL 4+ certified devices under an OEM model with a world-class manufacturer.

  • Software-based Tamper Protections: Most HSMs feature hardware-based tamper protections which automatically erase the cryptographic token in the case of an event such as an attacker opening the device casing. In addition to those, Custody 3.1 introduces a new class of protections which trigger the same if there is an attempt to tamper with the software running within the execution environment of the device.

  • Cryptographic Authenticity and Non-Repudiation: A chain of encrypt and sign schemes guarantee cryptographic authenticity and non-repudiation of transactions throughout their lifecycle, from initiation to broadcast. Accessing the offline storage is an “encrypted payload in, encrypted payload out” process, with no tampering such as redirecting sources and destinations or changing amounts possible in between.

  • Strict Time-based Access: Offline storage payloads expire and get rendered useless automatically within hours of generation, ensuring access to the offline storage is performed within a strictly controlled time window.

  • Additional Cryptographic Guardrails: Various guardrails were added to prevent and mitigate attacks aimed at compromising our offline storage indirectly through targeting our online systems.

Over the past six years, Balance successfully served digital asset exchanges, OTC and prop. trading desks, neobanks, ATM networks, private funds, market makers, liquidity providers, and corporate entities across Canada and certain parts of the world. Balance currently custodies over $1 billion worth of digital assets in its SOC 2 certified proprietary platform.

Find out more: www.balance.ca.

Disclaimer

PARADISO VENTURES INC. O/A Balance is a private company incorporated under the Canada Business Corporations Act, R.S.C., 1985, c. C-44 with its registered office address at 888 3rd St SW, Bankers Hall West Tower, 10th floor (Attn: Balance), Calgary, Alberta, T2P 5C5, Canada which sells digital goods and services. Balance is registered with the Financial Transactions and Reports Analysis Centre of Canada (FINTRAC) as a money services business dealing in virtual currencies with registration number M20210422 and with the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) as a money services business with registration number 31000258737080. This is not an offer or solicitation of any investment contract or financial security and should not be misconstrued as such. Balance does not provide financial, investment, tax, legal, or any other type of professional advice. Digital assets and the blockchain are early technologies and as such have an associated high degree of risk. For informational purposes only.