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Cobo
Discus Fish and Changhao Jiang founded Cobo in 2017. The firm provides digital asset custody infrastructure for 500+ institutions from Singapore.
Cobo
Cobo was founded in 2017 by Discus Fish, the pseudonymous creator of F2Pool, and Dr. Changhao Jiang, a former Google and Facebook engineer who built China's first Bitcoin wallet. The pair combined deep mining infrastructure experience with security engineering to solve the core problem that kept institutions sidelined: the risk of losing digital assets to breaches or key mismanagement. The firm set up headquarters in Singapore in 2020 and raised a $40 million Series B in 2021 led by DST Global, IMO Ventures and A&T Capital. The platform spans four wallet architectures — custodial, MPC, smart contract, and exchange wallets — delivered through a single API and SDK stack. Cobo does not disclose aggregate assets under custody, though internally it previously reported crossing $1.5 billion in AUC during 2021. The firm's clients include exchanges like Deribit, which use Cobo for hot-warm-cold wallet setups built for high-frequency trading, as well as payment providers and treasury managers settling stablecoin flows across multiple chains. Coverage extends across more than 80 blockchains and 3,000 tokens, with automated sweeping, gas fee management, and AML screening integrated via Chainalysis and Elliptic. Cobo employs multi-layer hardware isolation using HSMs and Intel SGX, with MPC signing nodes distributed inside Trusted Execution Environments. The firm maintains SOC 2 Type II certification and holds licenses in Hong Kong and the United States. In 2023, it obtained SOC 2 Type 2 certification, formalizing the operational controls behind its custody infrastructure. Though the firm does not publish headcount, it operates without any publicly disclosed additional offices, running its global client base from its Singapore base. Cobo's structural distinction is its refusal to become a financial institution on top of its own infrastructure. Unlike crypto custodians that have expanded into prime brokerage, lending, or trading, Cobo remains a pure technology provider — meaning its exchange and fund clients do not compete with their own vendor for the same alpha. The company launched Cobo Ventures to invest in adjacent blockchain infrastructure, but the parent entity's revenue depends entirely on clients building on Cobo, not trading against them.
General information
Firm type
Asset Manager
Year founded
2017
AUM
Undisclosed
Location
Region
Asia
Country
Singapore
City
Singapore
Corporate office
Singapore, Singapore
Principals
Discus Fish
CEO and Co-founder
Changhao Jiang
CTO and Co-founder
Sector focus
Frequently asked questions
Who runs investment and technology decisions at Cobo?
Co-founder Discus Fish serves as CEO, while co-founder Dr. Changhao Jiang is CTO. Fish previously built F2Pool, one of the world's largest mining pools, and Jiang earned a PhD in computer science from UIUC before engineering roles at Google and Facebook. The two co-founders remain actively involved in day-to-day leadership.
How does Cobo differ from a prime broker or a crypto exchange?
Cobo is an infrastructure provider, not a trading venue or lender. It supplies the wallet technology and custody layer that exchanges, funds, and fintechs build on top of. Unlike integrated crypto platforms, Cobo does not compete with its own clients for trade execution or lending revenue.
What wallet configurations does Cobo support for institutional clients?
Cobo offers four wallet architectures through a unified API and SDK: custodial wallets secured by hardware isolation, MPC wallets with distributed signing nodes, smart contract wallets, and exchange wallets optimized for high-frequency platforms. Clients can mix types or use a hot-warm-cold setup depending on their security and liquidity requirements.
Has Cobo ever experienced a security breach?
Cobo states it has maintained a zero-incident security record since its founding in 2017. The firm uses hardware security modules and Intel SGX for isolation, distributes MPC signing nodes inside Trusted Execution Environments, and undergoes regular audits and penetration testing by external security firms.
What regulatory licenses does Cobo hold?
Cobo is licensed to operate in Hong Kong and the United States, and has obtained SOC 2 Type II certification (updated to Type 2 in 2023). The firm integrates AML and KYT compliance through partnerships with Chainalysis and Elliptic.
Is Cobo a family office or a venture-backed company?
Cobo is a venture-backed company, not a family office. It raised a $40 million Series B in 2021 from DST Global, IMO Ventures, and A&T Capital. The firm also launched Cobo Ventures, an investment arm focused on blockchain infrastructure startups.
What is the relationship between Cobo and F2Pool?
Cobo's CEO and co-founder, Discus Fish, previously co-founded F2Pool, one of the world's largest cryptocurrency mining pools. Cobo operates as a separate entity focused on digital asset custody and wallet infrastructure, though the founder's mining background informed the security-first engineering culture.
Profile maintained by Altss using OSINT (open-source intelligence), regulatory filings, licensed data partners, and verified direct submissions. Read the methodology. Last updated: . Continuous refresh with full update cycles at least every 30 days.
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