Anchorage Digital has expanded its support for the TRON blockchain by launching native TRX staking for institutional clients, completing the next phase of an integration that began with regulated custody earlier this year.
The service allows institutions to collect protocol-generated staking rewards while retaining TRX within the same Anchorage Digital framework they use for custody. The company has also expanded custody to assets issued under TRON’s TRC-20 token standard, giving clients access to a network that has become one of the largest settlement channels for stablecoins, particularly Tether’s USDT.
Anchorage Digital said TRON processed an average of approximately 10.9 million transactions and served 3.2 million active addresses per day during the first quarter of 2026. The company also attributed roughly $2 trillion in quarterly USDT transfer volume and a stablecoin market value of around $85.8 billion to the network. The figures explain why an institutional custodian would expand beyond storing TRX into services that allow clients to participate directly in TRON’s operations.
Nathan McCauley, Co-founder and Chief Executive Officer at Anchorage Digital, said institutions increasingly want access to networks where adoption and on-chain activity are continuing to grow.
“Institutions are looking for the ability to participate in leading networks where on-chain activity and adoption continue to grow. TRX staking is another step in our commitment to supporting the digital asset ecosystems our clients care about. By adding native staking alongside custody, we’re giving institutions a compliant way to engage more deeply with TRON, a network that sits at the center of the stablecoin economy.”
TRON Custody Was Only The First Phase
Anchorage Digital first announced support for TRON in March, beginning with custody for TRX through its regulated platform. The company also made the asset available through Porto, its institutional self-custody wallet. At the time, Anchorage outlined a phased integration that would later add custody for TRC-20 assets and native TRX staking. The latest launch delivers those previously announced capabilities. :contentReference[oaicite:0]{index=0}
The phased approach shows how institutional support for a blockchain typically develops. Custody gives an asset manager, fund, trading firm or other institution a controlled way to hold an asset. Token support then opens access to assets issued on the network, while staking allows the institution to participate in transaction validation and collect rewards rather than leaving the native token inactive.
TRX holders can stake tokens to obtain resources used by the network and participate in the selection of Super Representatives, the validators responsible for producing blocks and governing parts of the protocol. The rewards received through Anchorage will depend on validator selection, network conditions and applicable fees and are generated by the TRON protocol rather than guaranteed by the custodian.
Approximately 48% of the circulating TRX supply was staked in early July, according to TRONSCAN network data. That amounted to more than 45.7 billion TRX, demonstrating that staking is already a central component of the network’s economics rather than a marginal service being introduced solely for institutional investors. :contentReference[oaicite:1]{index=1}
USDT Made TRON Important To Institutional Infrastructure
TRON’s appeal to institutions is increasingly tied to stablecoins rather than only to the investment case for TRX. The network has developed into a major channel for USDT transfers between exchanges, trading firms, payment businesses and individual users, particularly in markets where dollar-denominated digital assets are used for cross-border payments and access to dollar liquidity.
Ethereum remains central to decentralized finance, tokenization and institutional applications, but TRON has developed a different position around high-volume stablecoin settlement. Its relatively low transaction costs and the large existing base of USDT users have created a network effect: exchanges and payment businesses support TRON because customers use it, while customers continue using it because support is widely available.
The resulting transaction volume has made TRON difficult for institutional digital asset companies to overlook. A custodian serving trading businesses, funds and financial institutions may need to support the networks through which clients already receive, hold and transfer stablecoins, even when those clients have limited interest in the network’s broader decentralized application ecosystem.
TRC-20 custody is therefore an important part of the Anchorage expansion. It means institutional clients can hold supported tokens issued on TRON within the company’s infrastructure rather than limiting their exposure to TRX. The announcement did not provide a complete list of TRC-20 assets available at launch, and Anchorage notes that asset and service availability varies by legal entity and jurisdiction.
Staking Moves Institutional Custody Beyond Safekeeping
Institutional crypto custody is moving beyond the original function of protecting private keys. Providers increasingly compete through staking, settlement, governance, trading and collateral services that allow assets to remain productive while operating within defined security and approval controls.
Anchorage Digital already supports institutional staking across multiple blockchain networks. The company says assets staked through its custody platform remain within Anchorage Digital’s security architecture rather than being transferred to an external retail staking service. Its broader platform also provides trading, settlement, governance and stablecoin infrastructure. :contentReference[oaicite:2]{index=2}
That distinction matters for institutions subject to internal risk limits, asset segregation requirements and formal transaction approval policies. Directly operating staking infrastructure or sending tokens to an unrelated provider can create technical and counterparty risks. Integrating staking with custody can reduce those operational steps, although clients still face protocol risks, validator performance risk, potential changes in reward rates and token price volatility.
The launch also gives Anchorage Digital a wider relationship with the TRON ecosystem. Instead of supporting only the storage of its native token, the company now covers TRX custody, native staking and TRC-20 assets. That creates a foundation on which additional settlement or network participation services could be added, although neither company announced another phase.
Justin Sun Sees Regulated Infrastructure As The Route To Participation
TRON founder Justin Sun described custody as the entry point for institutions and staking as the mechanism that turns asset holders into participants in the network.
“Expanding support with Anchorage Digital is an important milestone for the TRON ecosystem and the institutions building on it. Custody is the first step, but staking allows institutions to become active participants in the network. Secure, regulated infrastructure is what helps turn institutional interest into participation.”
The partnership gives TRON access to a custodian whose US banking subsidiary received a federal trust charter from the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency. Anchorage Digital describes Anchorage Digital Bank as the first federally chartered digital asset bank and the only federally chartered crypto bank offering staking. Its services are also delivered through other regulated entities and Porto, meaning the precise protections and regulatory structure depend on the product, location and Anchorage entity used. :contentReference[oaicite:3]{index=3}
For TRON, that infrastructure may help broaden institutional access to a network that has already achieved large-scale use in stablecoin transfers. For Anchorage Digital, the integration adds staking and token custody for a blockchain whose transaction activity gives it practical importance within global crypto payments.
The launch does not by itself demonstrate that traditional financial institutions are making large allocations to TRX. It does, however, remove part of the operational barrier for institutions that already hold the token, interact with TRC-20 assets or require access to TRON’s stablecoin infrastructure. As stablecoin settlement becomes a larger component of institutional crypto activity, regulated providers are following that activity onto the networks where it already takes place.
