Unykorn

Platform · Custody

Custody without being the custodian

Unykorn software operates as a non-custodial gateway. Qualified custody is delegated to an OCC-chartered bank, and the tenant retains their own backup key — so no single party, Unykorn included, can unilaterally move client assets.

How does Unykorn custody client assets?

It doesn’t hold them as a sole custodian. Each tenant gets a segregated multi-signature vault under an m-of-n signer policy. Qualified custody of the underlying assets is delegated to BitGo Bank & Trust N.A., an OCC-chartered trust company. The tenant holds their own backup key, which means Unykorn is structurally incapable of being the single point of control.

This is the non-custodial gateway pattern applied end to end: the software insulates the operating entities from balance-sheet liability, while a chartered custodian carries the regulated custody obligation.

What is the signer topology?

  • User key — held by the tenant, never transmitted to Unykorn.
  • Backup key — generated and retained by the tenant, kept offline; the recovery path that removes sole-custodian risk.
  • Custodian key — held under qualified custody by the chartered bank.

Value moves only when a policy-satisfying quorum of signatures is assembled, and only after the compliance gate has cleared the transaction.

How are stablecoin flows automated?

Deposit wallets are swept to consolidation vaults programmatically on webhook triggers, with velocity and approval policies enforced at the wallet level. All amounts are handled in integer minor units — there is no floating-point representation of money anywhere in the path — and every webhook is signature-verified before it is trusted.

Compliance is upstream of custody. No sweep, withdrawal, or distribution is released until the AML/KYC/Travel-Rule gate clears it. Custody enforces control; compliance decides whether control may be exercised.

Frequently asked

Is Unykorn a custodian?

No. Unykorn provides non-custodial software. Qualified custody is delegated to an OCC-chartered trust bank, and the tenant holds their own backup key, so the software is never a sole custodian of client assets.

Who can move assets out of a vault?

Only a policy-satisfying quorum of signers, and only after the compliance gate clears the transaction. No single party — including Unykorn — can unilaterally move funds.

How is money represented internally?

As integer minor units end to end. No floating-point money type exists anywhere in the settlement path, eliminating a common class of rounding and reconciliation defects.