February 2025 ushered in the Year of the Snake, bringing with it a fitting mix of stealth, unpredictability, and sharp reversals in the crypto markets. Much like the Snake in Chinese tradition—a symbol of wisdom, transformation, and hidden dangers—the market saw calculated moves, sudden shifts, and lurking risks. Bitcoin (BTC), which had slithered to new highs in January, shed over 20%, dipping to $82,000, as optimism over pro-crypto policies under Trump’s administration faded and markets reeled from the $1.4 billion Bybit hack.
This negative price action stood in stark contrast to the hive of positive activity at Hex Trust, where momentum only accelerated. We scaled our institutional services, reinforcing our position as a market leader with key milestones. We secured strategic investment from Morgan Creek, acquired Byte Trading to expand our prime services, and accelerated our transformation into a full-service financial institution.
We also welcomed Consensus to our home in Hong Kong, marking the largest crypto event since Token2049 relocated to Singapore in 2019. As Lead Sponsor, Hex Trust was at the center of the action—driving key conversations, hosting high-impact events, and shaping the future of institutional digital assets.
The Bybit exploit once again underscored the criticality of robust, institutional-grade custody solutions—an area where Hex Trust continues to lead with security, compliance, and risk management at its core. Our Co-founder and CTO analysed the exploit, detailing how sophisticated UI manipulation and overlooked verification processes enabled the Bybit attack, emphasizing the need for clear transaction interfaces and vigilant oversight.
As we accelerate into 2025, Hex Trust will seek to emulate the Snake—wise in its strategy, agile in execution, and always prepared to seize the right opportunities. Read on for our key highlights and insights from February.
As Lead (5 Block) Sponsor, we were proud to welcome the world’s most forward-thinking minds to Hong Kong—the city where Hex Trust was founded in 2018, our roots, and a hub for institutional digital assets.
Beyond the exhibition hall, Hex Trust was at the heart of the action, hosting three incredible events and collectively attending 50+ side events throughout the week.
On stage, our leadership team shared exclusive insights on some of the most pressing industry topics:
In addition to our presence on stage, Hex Trust co-hosted a series of high-impact side events:
A huge thank you to our partners and the wider digital asset community for making Consensus Hong Kong a landmark event. To continue the conversation, reach out to Hex Trust at: partnerships@hextrust.com
Digital asset security is essential in today’s evolving crypto ecosystem. The Bybit hack—a $1.4B loss in ETH—highlights the critical need for robust, institutional-grade custody solutions.
Rafal Czerniawski, Hex Trust’s Co-founder and CTO, analysed the exploit, detailing how sophisticated UI manipulation and overlooked verification processes enabled the Bybit attack, emphasizing the need for clear transaction interfaces and vigilant oversight.
At Hex Trust, we have always maintained an intense focus on compliance, risk management, governance, and security. Our infrastructure is built to prevent unauthorized control or manipulation—ensuring that every asset movement is fully transparent and verifiable.
Explore the full analysis to see how a security-by-design approach sets the industry standard for digital asset custody.
We’re thrilled to announce that Hex Trust acquired Byte Trading to expand and scale our markets and prime services offering. The acquisition marks another significant milestone on our journey from custodian to full-service financial institution. As our first acquisition, this is a pivotal step in Hex Trust’s growth strategy — with more to follow in due course.
Full announcement here
Featured in: Blockhead | Crypto.News | Asset Servicing Times | cryptonews
We successfully secured a strategic funding round led by Morgan Creek Digital, with participation from global investors, including Injective. This marks a significant milestone as we prepare for our Series C raise later in 2025.
Full announcement here
Featured in: Deal Street Asia | cryptonews | Finance Feeds | Fintech Finance News
We partnered with Core and Maple Finance for the launch lstBTC as one of the trusted partner custodians. Core’s IstBTC token allows institutional participants to earn yield on bitcoin holdings within secure custodial infrastructure.
Featured in: CoinDesk
In the announcement, the SFC outlined 12 key initiatives aimed at strengthening the digital asset industry in Hong Kong. The Block asked Hex Trust’s CEO & Co-founder, Alessio Quaglini, to share his insight on the significance and potential impact of the announcement:
🗣️ "While retail investor protection remains a priority, what will position Hong Kong as a global leader is its efforts to develop a digital asset hub for institutional investors — spanning custody, liquidity, lending, borrowing and staking." Read the full article here
Citadel Securities is setting its sights on the crypto space
Citadel Securities—widely recognized for its market-making prowess in equities, options, and fixed income—is setting its sights on the crypto space. The firm is aiming to establish itself as a key liquidity provider for digital assets. Decrypt asked Hex Trust’s Chief Commercial Officer, Calvin Shen, for his thoughts. Read the full article here
Alessio Quaglini was invited to attend the exclusive Ondo Summit in New York. This inaugural event brought together the most influential executives, founders, and leaders shaping the intersection of blockchain and finance with keynotes from the biggest voices in TradFi about the potential of tokenizing real-world assets (RWAs).
The global blockchain community gathered in Denver for a week of innovation, collaboration, and #BUIDLing the future of Web3. Hex Trust’s James Lindsay and Andrew Bello were on the ground, connecting with partners and exploring new opportunities in the space.
Filippo Buzzi, Hex Trust’s MENA Regional Director, was part of an expert panel at the PwC Booth Theatre during LEAP 2025 in Riyadh. Filippo discussed the latest trends in Web3, tokenization, and AI, sharing insights on how these technologies are shaping the future of the digital asset ecosystem.
Giorgia Pellizzari, Managing Director and Head of Custody at Hex Trust, joined the Bitcoin Fusion Webinar to discuss how institutions can securely stake Bitcoin and navigate the evolving digital asset landscape.
🗣️Girogia’s key takeaway: "True institutional DeFi is the next step for digital asset infrastructure."
📺 Watch the full webinar here
Hex Safe Mobile App User Experience (UX) Enhancements
Enhanced Hex Safe Navigation Bar
Extended Session Timeout
New Assets Supported
For further information and assistance, contact our support team at clients@hextrust.com
— The Hex Trust Team
Hex Trust - The Leader in Digital Asset Solutions
Custody | Staking | Trading | Investment Solutions | RWA
