Brian Armstrong – CEO of the US-based, high-profile crypto exchange platform Coinbase – has reportedly revealed that the custody service at the exchange is currently managing no less than $1 billion in cryptocurrency.

Specifically, in a part of Armstrong’s on-stage discussion at Consensus, Paul Vigna – panel moderator and Wall Street Journal journalist – had some questions for Coinbase director, regarding his opinion on the institutional investments in the crypto industry.

“We launched our custody 12 months ago, we’ve just crossed $1 billion AUM or institutions, 70 institutions have signed up, adding about $150 million AUM a month, so, to a large degree that has been a success.” Armstrong used Coinbase figures to reply.

Furthermore, Armstrong remarked that investors do not want their funds to sit idly in custody programs, such as Coinbase’ custody, which will ultimately boost the growth of investment in the market. Armstrong clarified that institutions look to stake, vote and do governance on-chain with their assets.

Regarding Bitcoin (BTC) – the most valuable crypto asset in the eye of investors – it will maintain its 1st rank on the chart. Nevertheless, other coins are seeing gradual growth in interest, which explained why Coinbase is providing 30 altcoins for institutions at present.

Lastly, Armstrong noted that Coinbase Pro – a Coinbase Digital exchange platform designed for advanced clients – is earning up to 60% of its trading volume from institutions. Coinbase is also in talks with Israeli-based startup StarkWare to develop a possible self-custody feature.

Earlier, Coinbase has reportedly expanded its crypto-to-crypto trading services in 11 new markets, including  Argentina, Chile, Colombia, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Mexico, Peru, Philippines, South Korea, and New Zealand. Users in the listed countries can now store, buy, send and receive cryptocurrencies using Coinbase Pro and Coinbase.com.