In the rapidly evolving digital asset landscape, one truth remains constant: security cannot be an afterthought. For regulated institutions navigating the complexities of digital asset adoption, the challenge goes beyond embracing innovation. It’s about doing so within the rigid frameworks of compliance, audit requirements, and risk management that define institutional operations.
That’s why we’re excited to partner with Thales, a collaboration that exemplifies our commitment to meeting institutions exactly where they are, with the infrastructure they trust.
The Institutional Challenge
As digital asset adoption accelerates across banking, custody, and exchange operations, regulated institutions face a fundamental tension. Legacy infrastructure, heightened regulatory scrutiny, and institutional risk management policies often create roadblocks to innovation. The real challenge is adopting digital assets while meeting the strict security and compliance standards that institutional operations demand.
For these organizations, digital asset solutions must seamlessly align with established institutional control frameworks, offering flexibility in signing workflows while maintaining the auditability, performance, and enterprise integration that regulators and internal policies require.
A Partnership Built for Institutional Trust
Our partnership with Thales addresses this challenge head-on through a solution that combines the security of customer-owned hardware with the flexibility and scalability of the Fireblocks Digital Asset Platform.
The Technical Foundation
At the heart of this solution is Fireblocks KeyLink, our secure middleware layer that connects the Fireblocks platform to Thales Luna Hardware Security Modules (HSMs). This integration ensures that:
- Private keys remain within FIPS 140-3 Level 3 and Common Criteria certified hardware
- Cryptographic operations occur within customer-owned and managed infrastructure
- Institutions maintain full key ownership while accessing enterprise-grade digital asset capabilities
Meeting Regulatory Requirements
The solution is designed to address key regulatory frameworks including those set by the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA), Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission (HKSFC) and Japan Financial Services Agency (JFSA), with support for organizational segmentation by business unit, geography, or regulatory jurisdiction.
Flexible Infrastructure for Every Use Case
What sets this partnership apart is its ability to support diverse operational requirements, including:
- Hot, Warm, and Cold Signing Workflows
- Real-time, online transaction approvals for active trading operations
- Air-gapped, offline workflows using secure mechanisms like USB, SFTP, or data diodes
- Flexible configurations that adapt to different risk profiles and operational needs
- Seamless Enterprise Integration
- Leverages security architecture already embedded within regulated environments
- Minimal operational friction for existing security, governance, and audit processes
- Native support for tokenization, smart contracts, and DeFi ecosystem connectivity
- Advanced Governance Controls
- Fine-grained multi-approval rules and address whitelisting
- Transaction limits and comprehensive audit trails
- Immutable logs for regulatory proof and compliance reporting
Future-Ready Security
Perhaps most importantly, this solution is built for tomorrow’s challenges today. Thales Luna HSMs provide crypto agility and post-quantum cryptography (PQC) readiness, integrating NIST-standardized PQC algorithms directly into their core firmware. Put simply, this ensures that institutions can confidently build digital asset operations that will remain secure even as cryptographic standards evolve.
Expanding Digital Asset Capabilities
The partnership enables institutions to:
- Extend existing certified HSM infrastructure to digital asset workflows
- Securely manage stablecoins, cryptocurrencies, security tokens, and tokenized real-world assets
- Prepare for central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) and emerging asset classes
- Interact with staking validators and DeFi protocols while retaining full key control
Meeting Institutions Where They Are
This partnership embodies a core principle at Fireblocks: we meet customers where they are, not where we think they should be. For organizations with existing HSM infrastructure, regulatory requirements, or specific security mandates, we provide a pathway to digital asset innovation that respects and leverages their current investments.
Whether you’re a bank exploring tokenized deposits, a custodian expanding into digital assets, or an exchange requiring enterprise-grade security, the Fireblocks and Thales solution provides the secure foundation you need to build, run, and grow your digital asset operations with confidence.
The Bottom Line
Digital asset adoption doesn’t require abandoning the security and compliance frameworks that institutional operations depend on. With Fireblocks KeyLink and Thales Luna HSMs, institutions can embrace the future of finance while maintaining the control, security, and regulatory compliance that their stakeholders demand.
This is more than a technical integration—it’s a bridge between the traditional financial infrastructure that institutions trust and the digital asset capabilities that will define the future of finance. And it’s available today, ready to support your organization’s digital asset journey, wherever that journey begins.
Ready to explore how Fireblocks and Thales can secure your digital asset operations? Join us at Sibos in Frankfurt and Token2049 in Singapore to meet with our team of experts and learn more.
