Casa introduces Praetorian for nation-state Bitcoin reserves

Casa, a self-custody firm, has launched a new service called Praetorian, aimed at assisting governments in establishing national bitcoin reserves.

This announcement was made by CEO Nick Neuman during the Bitcoin MENA conference in Abu Dhabi.

The initiative comes amid growing interest in nation-state Bitcoin (CRYPTO:BTC) treasuries, particularly following the incoming Trump administration's proposal for a one million BTC strategic reserve for the United States.

Traditionally, institutional investors have relied on third-party custodians like Coinbase for digital asset storage.

“Your country’s bitcoin shouldn’t be held by somebody else,” however, Neuman advocates for self-custody as a more secure alternative.

He emphasised the risks associated with third-party custodians, citing historical instances where nations lost access to their reserves.

Praetorian utilises Bitcoin’s multi-signature technology, requiring multiple signatures to authorise transactions.

For instance, in a “2-of-3” multisig setup, Casa retains one key while the user holds two.

This structure ensures that even if one key is lost, funds remain accessible through the remaining keys.

“Today, a nation can and should take self-custody of its private keys,” Neuman further asserted.

He highlighted Casa’s Sovereign Recovery protocol, which ensures access to funds through open-source software if Casa becomes unreachable.

While larger custodians like Coinbase manage vast amounts of assets—over $273 billion as of September—Neuman aims to shift the paradigm by promoting self-custody.

“Your government reserves should not be dependent on a third-party,” he stated, arguing that traditional custodial methods are suboptimal for holding bitcoin at a national level.

At the time of reporting, the Bitcoin price was $100,537.