Institutions are paying for *more* risk in Bitcoin custody? What's going on?! Normally, you pay custodians to reduce risk, right? Like a bank keeping your money safe. In the crypto world, institutional investors (think big banks or hedge funds) are hiring specialized companies (custodians) to hold their Bitcoin. The news highlights something curious: these institutions are paying for services that introduce "added risk" to their Bitcoin holdings. This happens because they're looking for solutions beyond just simple cold storage. They might want their Bitcoin involved in lending protocols or other financial products to earn yield. While yield sounds good, it often means moving your Bitcoin into environments with counterparty risk – meaning you're trusting another entity to return your assets. This goes against one of Bitcoin's core promises: eliminating the need for trust through its decentralized, on-chain governance. Bitcoin's design inherently removes much of the "bank-like" risk, but these elaborate custody solutions reintroduce it. This indicates a growing tension: institutions want the security of Bitcoin but also the lucrative returns and financial services of traditional ...