Segregation of client assets means that a company holding assets for clients keeps them apart from its own. The assets belong to the clients, not to the company, and if it goes bankrupt its creditors can't claim them. The rule has long existed in securities markets and now applies to crypto too.
What does MiCA require?
Under MiCAMiCAThe EU regulation on markets in crypto-assets, in force in Iceland since 1 January 2026, which sets the same rules for crypto services across the EEA., in force in Iceland since 1 January 2026, crypto-asset service providersCASP (crypto-asset service provider)A company licensed under MiCA to provide crypto-asset services, such as buying, selling, custody or transfers. must:
- make arrangements to protect clients' ownership rights, especially if the provider becomes insolvent, and not use clients' assets for their own account
- keep crypto-assets held for clients separate from their own holdings, both legally and on the blockchain, so creditors have no claim on them
- keep a record of what each client owns
Segregation and pooled wallets
Segregation doesn't necessarily mean each client has their own wallet address. Clients' assets are often held together in pooled wallets (omnibus wallets), separate from the company's assets, with exact records of what each person owns. What matters is that it is always clear who the assets belong to.
Why does it matter?
When FTX collapsed in 2022, it emerged that clients' assets had been mixed with those of a related company and used for its own purposes. When the lender Celsius went bankrupt the same year, a US court ruled that assets in its so-called Earn accounts belonged to the bankruptcy estate, because customers had transferred ownership in the terms of use. In both cases, customers ended up as creditors rather than owners.
At Myntkaup, client assets are legally separate from the company's own assets and protected from creditors in the event of insolvency. Read more on the Security and licence page.
Segregation doesn't protect against price falls, or against assets being taken without authority. It is one defence among several against counterparty riskCounterparty riskThe risk that whoever you deal with, or trust with your assets, fails to keep their side of the deal, for example because of bankruptcy or fraud..
Everything in Myntkaup Learn is written and regularly reviewed by the Myntkaup editorial team. It is for education and is not investment advice. Editorial policy. Updated 2 November 2026.