Coinbase Prime vs Hex Trust

Coinbase Prime4.1/5

VS

Hex Trust4.0/5

Feature	Coinbase PrimeVisit	Hex TrustVisit
Ratings
Our score	4.1/5	4.0/5
User rating	No reviews yet	No reviews yet
Security	4.0	3.5
Compliance	4.0	4.0
Asset support	4.0	4.5
Features	4.5	4.5
Support	4.0	4.0
Specs
Custody model	Not disclosed	Qualified custodian, HSM
Regulated	Yes	Yes
SOC 2 report	Yes	Yes
Insurance	Up to $320M commercial crime policy (insurer syndicate), shared by all Coinbase customers	Up to $25M in aggregate across all clients (custodian fraud, physical loss of private keys)
Assets supported	Not disclosed	501
Staking	Yes	Yes
API access	Yes	Yes
Licenses & charters	NYDFS limited purpose trust charter (US), NYDFS BitLicense (US), CSSF MiCA CASP authorization (Luxembourg)	MAS Major Payment Institution license (Singapore), VARA VASP license, custody (Dubai, UAE), VARA VASP license, broker-dealer (Dubai, UAE), Trustee Ordinance trust company registration (Hong Kong), Companies Registry TCSP license (Hong Kong)
Cold storage	Yes	Yes
Qualified custodian	Yes	Not disclosed
Company
Founded	2012	2018
Headquarters	United States	—
Investors	Not disclosed	Not disclosed
Strengths and weaknesses
Pros	Custody at a NYDFS-chartered trust company that acts as a fiduciary under New York Banking Law SOC 1 Type 2 and SOC 2 Type 2 reports cover private key management controls Coinbase generally keeps no more than 2% of custodied assets in hot wallets REST, FIX and WebSocket APIs with TWAP and VWAP order types	501 assets across 31 blockchains on Hex Safe SOC 2 Type II and SOC 1 Type II reports, plus CSA STAR Level 2 MAS Major Payment Institution license and two active VARA licenses FIPS 140-3 Level 3 HSMs in air-gapped vaults behind data diodes
Cons	The $320 million crime policy is shared by every Coinbase customer $50 million NYDFS penalty in 2023 over anti-money laundering and KYC failures The May 2025 data theft incident led to $311.2 million in cash payments The OCC charter for Coinbase National Trust Company was a conditional approval in April 2026	Insurance capped at $25 million in aggregate across all clients No EU license listed on the current Trust Center Newest listed SOC report dates from December 2023
Best for	Hedge funds that want custody and execution in one account, ETF sponsors and asset managers that need a New York trust company as custodian, Trading desks that route orders over FIX	Token foundations that want custody, staking and DeFi access from one provider, Institutions in Asia and the Gulf that need MAS- or VARA-licensed custody, High-net-worth clients of the Aura wealth platform

Highlighted cells show the stronger value in each row. Data comes from each provider's site and public sources; check details before you sign up.