Bitcoin Custody Costs Explained: Why Onramp’s Pricing Scales with Security

Jackson Mikalic | VP, Business Development

Jun 11, 2025

As Bitcoin adoption grows and prices rise, more investors are rethinking how they secure their holdings. If you are evaluating a platform like Onramp, one question may come to mind: Why does Onramp cost what it does, and why does the price scale with the amount of Bitcoin I hold?

This article explains what is included in an Onramp account, why the cost scales with assets held, and how the value of the service grows alongside the amount of Bitcoin we are protecting.

We believe transparency builds trust. And when it comes to safeguarding your Bitcoin for the long term, we want every investor to understand exactly what they are paying for and why.

What’s Included in Onramp’s Pricing

Onramp offers a secure, industry-leading custody solution that combines institutional-grade infrastructure with personalized support and access to financial services. Every Onramp relationship includes:

Secure multi-institution custody — Keys are distributed across independent institutions, eliminating single points of failure and ensuring no one—including Onramp—can move funds unilaterally.3
Institutional-grade infrastructure — Includes regulated custodians, multiple jurisdictions, secure physical locations, and live verification procedures.
Segregated wallets with legal clarity — Each client has their own vault legally titled in their name, not pooled in an omnibus wallet.
Inheritance and beneficiary planning — Built-in inheritance planning without the complexity of self-custody.
Tax-advantaged account support — Includes Traditional IRAs, Roth IRAs, SEP IRAs, and more.
Bitcoin native financial services — Includes lending, trading, and investment opportunities
On-chain transparency — Clients can independently verify balances and activity at any time.
Concierge onboarding and client support — One-on-one guidance for asset migration, access recovery, account transitions, and more.
Integrated insurance coverage — Up to $100 million per incident through Lloyd’s of London, covering collusion and tail risks.

The goal is not just to secure Bitcoin, but to eliminate the operational, legal, and long-term vulnerabilities that often accompany other custody approaches, ultimately providing peace of mind to our clients.

If you want to read more about how our approach differs from traditional custodians or self-custody models, check out Onramp Custody Pricing Explained: The Value Behind the Numbers

With that foundation in place, let’s take a closer look at why pricing is tied to the amount of Bitcoin you are securing.

Why Cost Must Scale with Assets Under Custody

The question of pricing is often shaped by consumer expectations or legacy models that place the burden of responsibility on the end user. But Onramp offers a different approach. Our model is built around protecting clients and delivering a custody experience that prioritizes long-term peace of mind.

At the heart of this model is multi-institution custody, which eliminates the single greatest risk in Bitcoin custody: a single point of failure. By requiring multiple independent institutions to coordinate securely, our model dramatically reduces the threat of theft, hacks, mismanagement, and ultimately, catastrophic loss. But delivering that level of resilience requires meaningful investment.

Onramp’s pricing scales with assets because the operational requirements, security protocols, and level of service all scale with the amount of Bitcoin under custody. The more Bitcoin we are protecting, the more infrastructure, personnel, audits, controls, and insurance must be maintained to protect it.

This is not unique to Onramp. Institutional-grade custodians like Fidelity, Coinbase, and BitGo also charge on a basis point model. As client balances grow, so does the complexity, liability, and operational effort required to secure them. This is how financial services work in both traditional and Bitcoin markets.

Securing $500,000 in Bitcoin is not the same as securing $500 million or $10 billion. Larger balances carry greater responsibility and demand stronger safeguards.

Even in Bitcoin trading, no one expects to pay the same flat fee whether they are trading $100 or $100 million. The rate may go down with scale, but the absolute dollar amount still increases. The same logic applies to custody.

Flat-fee pricing breaks down when applied to large balances. It would not support the infrastructure, responsiveness, or security needed to properly protect the assets. It also would not be fair to clients, who expect a level of attention and resilience that reflects the scale of their holdings.

Bitcoin custody is not just software. It is a long-term operational responsibility, one that requires our team and our partners to stay ahead of a constantly evolving threat landscape. As balances grow, so must the investment in security, audits, infrastructure, and service.

This is why Onramp’s pricing is designed to reflect the real investment required to protect serious Bitcoin holdings, while still delivering the transparency and care our clients deserve.

Scaling Benefits: More Value, Less Cost Over Time

At Onramp, our business model is built to align with our clients' long-term interests. As we grow, our goal is to deliver more value while reducing the cost of custody and financial services through scale and efficiency.

We launched in early 2023 with a fee rate of 0.65% for Onramp Standard accounts. Since then, we have steadily expanded the value clients receive while lowering the cost to access it. Today, most clients pay roughly one-third less than that original fee and benefit from a broader suite of services.

In early 2024, we introduced a seamless inheritance solution at no additional cost, addressing one of the most important concerns our clients face. In 2025, we added institutional-grade insurance coverage, also at no additional cost. This policy, backed by Lloyd’s of London, provides $100 million in per-incident coverage and is specifically structured to protect against tail risks.

We also integrated direct Bitcoin trading, launched Bitcoin-backed loans, and continued to invest in security infrastructure and dedicated client support, all while maintaining pricing transparency and simplicity.

As our client base grows and our network of institutional key partners expands, this model only gets stronger. Scale allows us to negotiate better terms, deliver new offerings, and pass those benefits back to our clients through enhanced services and lower fees.

This is what we believe Bitcoin custody should look like: a secure, evolving platform that becomes more valuable and efficient over time, not one that locks clients into outdated pricing or limited service.

How Onramp Pricing Works

Onramp utilizes a tiered pricing model based on the amount of Bitcoin stored in your multi-institutional vault. This structure reflects the level of security, support, and operational rigor required to safeguard larger balances.

For most clients, fees are a small percentage of assets held, and the percentage decreases as balances increase. Unlike flat-fee models, our pricing scales with the level of service and protection being provided, similar to how traditional financial services operate.

To get a better understanding of what pricing would look like for your situation, you can schedule a conversation with our team.

Final Thoughts

We understand that pricing is a factor in choosing a Bitcoin custody provider. But like anything in Bitcoin financial services, you get what you pay for. Our clients value the security, peace of mind, and relationship they get by partnering with Onramp.

At Onramp, we are building the platform we want to use ourselves. That means putting security first, eliminating single points of failure, and offering a long-term partnership that evolves with your needs.

Our team is here to support you in your decision-making process. We’ve guided thousands of clients and can help you make the right decision for your circumstances - book a consultation.