Unchained in 2025

Civilization’s greatest achievements have always emerged from our ability to collectively protect and grow our most precious resources. From Mesopotamian grain silos to Renaissance banking systems, humans have forged intricate networks of relationships that connect families, communities, and cultures across generations. At Unchained, we see bitcoin as humanity’s next great leap in preserving wealth—combining mathematical certainty with the irreplaceable human relationships that have underpinned societies for millennia.

Since our founding in 2016 (circa block 433,179), we’ve remained steadfast in our mission to deliver secure custody and financial services for individuals who share our belief in the importance of bitcoin and collaborative custody. While some might be content to place their future in the hands of a single key or a corporate institution, we recognize that true long term security emerges from thoughtful collaboration.

Our values served us well in 2024, a year of multiple transformative milestones for our industry including the approval of spot bitcoin ETFs, the election of a pro-bitcoin president, and bitcoin’s ascent beyond the important psychological price milestone of $100,000. Each of these are major catalysts for growth and new entry points that mark the beginning of the journeys individuals, institutions, pensions, and sovereign wealth funds alike must embark on to understand what makes bitcoin valuable.

In 2024 we made considerable investments in our platform that led Unchained, our clients, and our partners to collectively secure over 100,000 BTC. This achievement is a triumph for self-custody and our collaborative service model that will become the best in class standard for bitcoin financial services. As a member of a growing ecosystem for collaborative custody, we are immensely proud to do our part to grow this important segment for bitcoin custody.

2024 product highlights

In 2024, we focused on three key pillars that will define the future of collaborative custody: building best-in-class service through Signature, fostering secure connections between trusted parties, and advancing the technical foundations of bitcoin custody.

Signature is the standard bitcoin white-glove service

In 2024, Unchained Signature became the standard for anyone looking to go zero-to-one on their bitcoin security and education, including everything from white-glove setup and dedicated account management to special events. Signature clients enjoy unparalleled expertise and exclusive insights through intimate online and in-person events with industry leaders like Tuur Demeester, James Lavish, Nik Bhatia, and Peter St. Onge. 

Signature has become one of the best ways for people to foster meaningful connections within the bitcoin community—whether that be at in person events like the Bitcoin 2024 Whale Reception, PubKey gatherings in New York on bitcoin credit innovations, or events here in Austin, TX at the Bitcoin Commons. 

This year we launched Signature for Business, providing businesses with the same white-glove experience of Signature for individuals in the context of their business’s unique needs. From ensuring your company’s transaction approval quorums are properly set up (which we improved this year in multiple ways) to same-day emergency support, Signature for Business is the ideal choice for a business looking to add bitcoin to their balance sheet in 2025.

The connections our clients are fostering within the community thanks to Signature has sparked new collaboration and education—and we’re excited to watch it become fertile ground to spread bitcoin adoption among HNWIs and institutional investors in the years to come.

Connections foster better security and charitable giving 

We made it even easier for Unchained clients to collaborate and safeguard their bitcoin wealth with collaborative custody. Our platform now formally supports building collaborative custody vaults with advisors, family, and trusted friends, enhancing security and improving succession planning for generational wealth. By sharing a key with a trusted backup, clients can help their loved ones get off exchanges and protect themselves against potential attacks.

Bitcoin is a story of grassroots adoption. As I noted last year, we strongly believe a robust network of keys is the future of bitcoin custody. And with Connections, we can build a stronger bitcoin network controlled by millions of keys together—one connection at a time.

Donor-advised funds

An early fruit of Connections was our opportunity to launch the world’s first bitcoin-native donor advised funds alongside our partner UI Charitable Advisors. These new donor-advised funds let donors contribute bitcoin directly to charitable causes while retaining control of a key—providing unmatched transparency and peace of mind, simplifying the giving process, and offering tax advantages. This year, we facilitated the world’s first-ever bitcoin grant to Base58 and a 1.0 BTC grant to the Human Rights Foundation, as well as kicked off the $5mm bitcoin endowment for UATX. 

Together, these innovations demonstrate how Unchained Connections is driving cross-education within communities, the protection of generational wealth leveraging existing relationships, and now the use of bitcoin for charitable purposes.

Advancing bitcoin open source

At Unchained, the self-sovereignty that bitcoin enables is at the core of everything, making open source a cornerstone of our philosophy. In 2024, we focused on Caravan, our open-source multisig tool, by modernizing its codebase, improving developer experience, and introducing new user-facing features. By providing tools that are verifiable, transparent, and adaptable, we empower users to maintain control over their funds with confidence and peace of mind.

In addition to our work on Caravan, we participated in the Summer of Bitcoin program, providing mentorship to emerging contributors and supporting projects that delivered code for the broader community. We’re committed to the bitcoin ecosystem and want to ensure the tools we build can be leveraged by developers and users alike to advance self-custody beyond our platform.

An Unchained app and vault improvements

We introduced many new tools to enhance the client experience, but chief among them was the Unchained app, which gives Unchained clients a new way to keep tabs on vault balances and buy bitcoin, as well as track the bitcoin price and network fees with app widgets. This is just the beginning for the Unchained app—expect many more features and improvements to come. 

And we made many other improvements to our web and mobile wallet applications this year, including a redesigned, more intuitive key management experience for multisig vaults, the ability to confirm bitcoin deposit addresses via email, and we improved the key replacement process with clearer information about costs and workflows.

What’s ahead in 2025

Just as 2024’s halving (remember that?) ushered in bitcoin’s 5th epoch, Unchained is stepping into our own new epoch of transformative growth. We have the winning mix of people, tools, technology, capital and most importantly, client trust, to demonstrate what a fulsome platform for collaborative custody can provide to long term bitcoin holders. Here’s how we’ll achieve this in 2025 across three key areas:

Expanding access to collaborative custody

• Enhanced Signature offerings for UHNW bitcoiners and businesses
• New key agent options for flexible custody arrangements
• Expanded partnerships with traditional institutions and hardware wallets

Strengthening financial infrastructure

• Checking account and ACH trading capability
• IRA trading
• Segwit support
• Enhanced RIA experience

Building for generational wealth

• New regulatory capabilities for estate planning
• Trust services and qualified custody solutions
• Lending enhancements for large holders

We have even more transformative initiatives on the horizon that we can’t talk about yet—stay tuned! These initiatives represent the next evolution of collaborative custody, but they’re just the beginning of what’s possible when we combine bitcoin’s mathematical certainty with human relationships built on trust.

Conclusion

Just as the Renaissance banking networks transformed medieval commerce through human relationships and trust, Unchained is crafting the infrastructure for bitcoin’s next great epoch. In 2025, we’ll accelerate beyond individual products toward a comprehensive vision of collaborative custody—one where technology amplifies, rather than replaces, human relationships.

As we step into this new chapter, we remain unwavering in our commitment to building a sustainable, bitcoin-only financial services company. We’re not just securing bitcoin—we’re weaving together the relationships, tools, and expertise that will preserve wealth for generations to come.

Thank you for trusting Unchained as your partner in this journey. Together, we’re writing the next chapter in humanity’s story of protecting and growing its most precious resources.