Overview - Anchorage Digital

This guide covers the core concepts needed to begin your wealth management integration:

Terminology and account hierarchy
End-client lifecycle
Core platform concepts (ledger, balances, billing, trading)
API keys and primary API categories

Terminology and architecture

Term	Definition
Wealth manager	Parent wealth management firm onboarding and contracting as an Anchorage Digital client.
End client (program customer)	The wealth manager’s end client — an individual or legal entity with a unique `customerId`.
End client account (subaccount)	A unique account within the wealth manager’s account, tied to one or more beneficial owners. Each end client can have one or many subaccounts.
Organization	The highest hierarchical level within the product. Each wealth manager has exactly one organization.
Vault	Lives under an organization. Organizes asset wallets and API key permissions. Each vault has its own quorum policy, and its own `vaultId` used to filter API responses for withdrawals, trades, and transfers.
Wallet	Tied to a specific blockchain. Aggregates and manages addresses, removing the need to manage individual addresses. Wallets are created via API and tied to a specific subaccount (`subaccountId`), acting as the deposit wallet for that account. If a vault is deleted, ensure no new deposits are sent to its addresses — Anchorage Digital can reactivate a deleted vault to recover assets if needed.
Address	The underlying on-chain address associated with a wallet. Not intended to reconcile 1:1 with end-client account balances, which are tracked on the ledger across many wallets and addresses.
API permission group	Permissions enabled for API keys tied to this permission set.
Shared API key	API key created by the wealth manager and shared with Anchorage Digital for automated settlement of assets within the Anchorage Digital ecosystem.

Client lifecycle

Once a wealth manager is onboarded to Anchorage Digital Bank, end-client onboarding proceeds as follows:

Onboard the end client — Collect onboarding details and submit to Anchorage Digital via API for review and approval.
Create and configure a subaccount — After onboarding approval, create the first subaccount. Configure fees (paid in USD, remitted to the wealth manager monthly) or leave blank to submit manually.
Fund and manage a subaccount — Create deposit wallets for in-kind asset deposits. Wallet addresses are unique per subaccount and must not be reused. USD deposits require wire memos tied to the subaccount. After digital asset deposits, submit attribution information via API.
Trade and rebalance — Instruct trades via Anchorage Hold using the Orders API — single orders or block trades across multiple subaccounts.
Withdraw from a subaccount — Instruct crypto and USD withdrawals, subject to end-client authentication.
Tax data — Access tax data or tax forms for program customers via our tax reporting integration.
Statements and reporting — Receive trade confirmations and view statements sent to end clients per custody rule requirements.

Core concepts

The ledger

Each wealth manager has their own ledger instance that tracks crypto and USD positions across end-client on-chain wallets and USD wallet balances. The ledger consists of subaccounts of two types: 1. End client (program customer) subaccounts — Track individual end-client positions and transactions. 2. Anchorage Digital operational subaccounts — Ensure the ledger remains balanced. Include:

Subaccount	Purpose
Network transaction fees for org	Funds covering on-chain fees for settlement transfers. Managed automatically; does not impact program customer ledger balances.
BO customer fees for org	Accrues funds for subaccount and custody fees. Only impacted during the billing cycle.
Payables and receivables for org	Holds funds for settling trades with dealers.
Unassigned funds for org	Holds funds not yet assigned to a subaccount (e.g., in-kind deposits with missing attribution).

Each end client may have one or many subaccounts assigned to their customerId.

Balances

Each subaccount tracks three balance types:

Balance	Description
`availableForTrading`	Balance available to trade — may include unsettled funds.
`availableForWithdrawal`	Settled funds available to withdraw, less any unsettled trades.
`totalBalance`	Balance after all settlements complete; does not reflect unsettled trades.

Subaccount billing

Design your end-to-end fee and billing strategy before onboarding clients. Billing method:

Method	Description
Automated (subaccount-level)	Fees configured at subaccount creation.
Manual (monthly via API)	Submitted by the wealth manager via the manual billing API before Anchorage Digital finance pays out the following month.

Billing structure:

Structure	Description
Bundled	Single “management fee” line item on the PC monthly statement. Anchorage Digital’s custody fee is deducted from this overall fee.
Unbundled (“fully disclosed”)	Each fee type (custody fee, management fee, etc.) appears as a separate line item on the PC statement.

Most wealth managers use automated billing with an unbundled (“fully disclosed”) billing structure.

Block trading

Block trading enables rebalancing asset holdings across end clients and subaccounts in a single order, ensuring the same execution price for all underlying trades. Each order contains allocations tied to recipient subaccounts. All trades are pre-funded — no settlement transfers need to be initiated. Anchorage Digital handles settlement automatically on the ledger.

Trading on unsettled assets

Program customer funds can be traded even if prior trades are unsettled. For example, buying BTC and then selling it for ETH on the same day is permitted even if the BTC has not yet settled. This activity impacts all three balance types within each subaccount.

API keys

Two API keys are generated by the wealth manager during onboarding:

Key	Purpose
Client API key	Fully programmatic access to the wealth manager’s ledger for onboarding, trading, and managing end-client accounts.
Shared API key (with Anchorage Digital)	Enables Anchorage Digital to move funds on-chain between internal wallets for trade settlement. Generated and approved by the wealth manager, but only accessible by the Anchorage Digital team. Withdrawals using this key require quorum approval from the wealth manager.

APIs to use

Only the following API categories are relevant for the wealth management integration. Do not use others (e.g., /transactions for on-chain activity differs from /subaccount/transactions for ledger activity).

Category	Guide
Onboarding	Onboard end clients
Wallets	Fund in-kind with digital assets
Deposit attribution	Deposit attribution
Subaccounts	Subaccounts
Trading — WebSocket	WebSocket getting started
Trading — REST	Trade and rebalance
Tax	Tax data
Webhooks	Webhooks overview

New features and roadmap

Feature	Status
Updated onboarding flow	Delivered
Manual / custom billing API	Delivered
Deposit from international entities	Delivered
Bulk subaccount transactions	Delivered
Withdrawal API (USD)	Delivered
Withdrawal support for SWIFT / international beneficiary information	Delivered
Updated tax data	Delivered
Tax forms	Delivered
New taxable and non-taxable account types supported	Delivered
Tax lot aware cost basis reporting	Delivered
Bulk USD subaccount funding & withdrawals	Delivered
Create a trusted destination API	Delivered
Withdrawal API for in-kind (crypto)	Delivered
Statements API	Delivered
New trade order types	Delivered
Enhanced webhook responses	Coming soon
FIX trading	Coming soon
Staking	Coming soon
Segregated wallet structure	Coming soon

API changelog

See the API changelog to stay current on API updates.

​Terminology and architecture

​Client lifecycle

​Core concepts

​The ledger

​Balances

​Subaccount billing

​Block trading

​Trading on unsettled assets

​API keys

​APIs to use

​New features and roadmap

​API changelog

Terminology and architecture

Client lifecycle

Core concepts

The ledger

Balances

Subaccount billing

Block trading

Trading on unsettled assets

API keys

APIs to use

New features and roadmap

API changelog