Cold storage
Key material kept offline under physical or procedural controls, used for signing only during scheduled ceremonies. On Solana, cold arrangements typically mean air-gapped or HSM-backed keys that never touch internet-connected signing paths except through defined approval workflows. Compliance teams ask whether cold status is per-wallet or per-policy, and how withdrawal SLAs affect liquidity reporting.
Custody event
Any on-chain or operational action that changes who effectively controls an asset or benefit stream. Examples include transfers above policy thresholds, staking delegation, reward withdrawal, and signer changes on a multisig. Institutions map custody events to monitoring rules and Travel Rule triggers.
Related: Solana staking custody questions
Delegation (staking)
Assigning stake to a validator so it participates in consensus and earns rewards. Delegation does not transfer ownership of the underlying SOL to the validator, but it does create operational dependencies—withdrawal delays, validator performance risk, and policy questions about who initiates delegation transactions.
MPC (multi-party computation)
A key-management approach where signing requires cryptographic participation from multiple parties without assembling a full private key in one place. Custodians market MPC for reduced single-point-of-failure risk. Compliance reviewers ask about ceremony logs, signer onboarding/offboarding, and how MPC differs from on-chain multisig visibility.
Related: MPC versus multisig for institutions
Multisig
An on-chain arrangement requiring M-of-N signatures to approve a transaction. Multisig addresses are visible on Solana explorers, which aids audit trails but exposes approval topology. Institutions compare multisig to MPC based on transparency needs, latency, and internal segregation of signers.
Program-derived address (PDA)
An account address derived deterministically by a Solana program rather than from a standalone keypair. PDAs hold tokens or state on behalf of programs—common in DeFi and staking flows. Custody policies must state whether assets held at PDAs under client-initiated programs count as segregated client assets.
Qualified custodian
A regulated entity authorised to hold client assets under applicable jurisdiction rules. Qualification criteria differ by country; Korean and Asia-Pacific readers often cross-check against local financial regulator registers and any digital-asset-specific licensing. A qualified custodian contract should spell out bankruptcy-remote treatment and audit frequency.
Segregation of assets
Keeping client assets separate from the custodian's own balance sheet and from other clients' assets. On Solana, segregation is evidenced by distinct addresses, access controls, and reconciliation reports—not merely by brand promise. Committees ask how often on-chain balances are reconciled to internal ledgers.
Travel Rule
Requirements to share originator and beneficiary information for certain transfers between financial institutions. For Solana, desks debate which wallet-to-wallet movements qualify, how VASP identification works, and what metadata travels with a transaction. Thresholds and counterparties vary by jurisdiction.
VASP
Virtual Asset Service Provider—a entity that exchanges, transfers, safeguards, or otherwise intermediates virtual assets per FATF-aligned definitions. Whether your organisation or counterparty is a VASP affects Travel Rule obligations and licensing questions in Korea and neighbouring markets.