BitGo CEO Mike Belshe on the NYDIG acquisition and what it means for institutional crypto

BitGo Holdings has absorbed NYDIG’s institutional trading business in a deal that closed on August 27, 2026. BitGo CEO Mike Belshe laid out the thinking in a recent podcast conversation with Pete Janney, framing the acquisition as the natural next step for a custody and settlement platform trying to cover the full arc of how institutions interact with digital assets. The price tag came in at roughly $42.5 million, split between $7 million in cash and approximately $35.5 million in BitGo stock. Performance-based earnouts could add another $15 million on top, tied to revenue milestones that will become clearer as the combined business matures. What BitGo actually bought NYDIG’s trading unit brought capabilities that BitGo didn’t have in-house: derivatives, structured products, financing, and broader capital markets infrastructure. Paired with BitGo’s existing custody, settlement, and wallet stack, the combined offering now covers a lot more of what a large asset manager or bank treasury desk would need under one roof. About 30 former NYDIG employees crossed over with the deal. Belshe has been explicit about the thesis: institutions want a trusted partner that can handle the entire li...