Reading Time: 3 min As traditional financial institutions aim to become the primary custodians of crypto assets, they face significant challenges that may prevent them from succeeding. The decentralized finance (DeFi) ecosystem’s complexity and the fundamental differences between traditional finance and crypto create barriers that might render this ambition unworkable. This article explores why banks’ efforts to manage crypto custody could be unnecessary and potentially doomed to fail, highlighting the unique aspects of DeFi that resist integration with traditional custodial models.