Crypto-exchange Binance has enlisted Spain’s BBVA to hold customer collateral away from its own trading platform, the Financial Times reported, citing people familiar with the matter. Under the arrangement, clients can park assets such as U.S. Treasuries with BBVA, which Binance will accept as margin for trades. BBVA, Spain’s second-largest lender by assets, manages about €772 billion (US$835 billion). Independent custody aims to lower counter-party risk and rebuild confidence in large crypto venues after the 2022 collapse of FTX. Binance’s move also follows the exchange’s US$4.3 billion penalty last year for anti-money-laundering failures and the brief imprisonment of founder Changpeng Zhao. By using a regulated bank to segregate collateral, Binance is aligning its market infrastructure more closely with traditional finance standards, industry analysts said.