Polkadot Investors Can Now Participate In Governance Using Bitcoin Suisse's Custodial Cold Storage Solution

Bitcoin Suisse, the Swiss cryptocurrency services provider known for its secure, cold storage-based custodial crypto products, has announced that it now supports on-chain governance voting for all DOT, KSM, and CFG token holders.

The company said that users of Bitcoin Suisse Vault can now easily create a proxy account on any device via the Vault interface, enabling them to participate in governance while ensuring their digital assets remain secure. It means they’ll be able to vote on upgrades to the network and other proposals without taking any chances.

Bitcoin Suisse Vault is billed as an institutional-grade crypto custody service that is designed to provide the utmost security for clients. Users’ tokens are held in cold storage at all times, yet can be easily accessed for trading and other purposes. The service supports 19 different blockchain protocols and more than 80 individual crypto assets, including Bitcoin, Ethereum, Tezos, and others.

Naturally, the offering also supports Polkadot’s DOT tokens, as well as Kusama’s KSM and the tokens of each Polkadot parachain project, including Centrifuge’s CFG token.

Polkadot is widely viewed as one of the hottest up-and-coming blockchain projects around. It’s focused on creating an interoperable ecosystem of blockchains – called parachins – that are uniquely tailored to support different applications and use cases. Thanks to its novel, delegated proof-of-stake consensus mechanism, it enables blazing fast transaction speeds and lower costs.

Like most decentralized networks, Polkadot places a huge emphasis on the idea of democracy with its community governance mechanism. In this way, DOT token holders can vote on proposals such as upgrades to the network, with the weight of their vote based on the number of tokens they hold.

Similarly, KSM holders can vote on decisions relating to Kusama, while those who hold tokens such as CFG can take part in parachain governance.

However, this process has often excluded institutional investors who store their tokens offline for security reasons. Tokens locked in cold storage have always been unable to participate in the governance process – until now.

“On-chain governance is a key component within Polkadot, ensuring all decision-making processes of the network continue to be as decentralized as possible including decisions on forkless upgrades and treasury proposals,” explained Kasper Jorgensen, CFO at the Web3 Foundation, the organization behind Polkadot.

“We’re pleased Bitcoin Suisse clients are now easily able to participate in the Polkadot governance process through the Bitcoin Suisse Vault. Enabling easy access to participate in on-chain governance while keeping tokens in an institutional grade custody service is a big step forward for adoption and participation on Polkadot.”

To participate in governance votes, Bitcoin Suisse Vault clients can simply access their account and create a proxy account on any device. From there, they have an easy way to place their votes on any existing proposals. They can even create proposals themselves, while their assets remain secured in Bitcoin Suisse’s audited cold storage service.

“The Bitcoin Suisse Vault was already the first solution to offer DOT custody and staking services in June 2020, so this new feature is a clear continuation of our tradition of staying at the forefront of technical innovation,” said Bitcoin Suisse’s Head of Custody Markus Perdrizat.