UstarPay announces custody arrangement with BitGo Bank & Trust for Real-World Crypto Payments

HONG KONG SAR – Media OutReach Newswire – 5 November 2026 – As digital assets move from investment holdings into everyday payment scenarios, the industry is entering a new stage of adoption. Speed and convenience are no longer enough. Users, partners, and compliance teams need to know how assets are held, how funds move, and how each transaction can be traced and verified.

For UstarPay, this is a core part of building real-world crypto payment infrastructure. Card programs and payment flows must be fast enough for daily use, while also maintaining clear governance over customer assets, settlement records, and operational responsibilities.

To support this foundation, UstarPay has engaged BitGo Bank & Trust, National Association ("BitGo Bank & Trust"), an OCC-regulated digital asset trust bank and subsidiary of BitGo Holdings, Inc. (NYSE: BTGO) ("BitGo"), the digital asset infrastructure company,as the custodian for its digital assets holdings behind UstarPay's digital asset payment and card infrastructure.

BitGo's custody infrastructure helps UstarPay reinforce customer fund security.

BitGo is a digital asset infrastructure company serving institutional clients across custody, wallets, staking, trading, financing, stablecoins, and settlement solutions. Since 2013, BitGo has supported the development of secure infrastructure for the digital asset economy and provides services through multiple regulated entities.

Through this collaboration, UstarPay is working with BitGo to support custody and related infrastructure for UstarPay's own digital asset payment services.

A key principle of the arrangement is that customers retain ownership and beneficial interest in their assets. Customer assets are not intended to be transferred to the custodian as proprietary assets, and the custody structure is designed to support clear separation of rights and responsibilities.

For UstarPay, this structure reflects a simple but essential belief:
"Customer assets should remain customer assets."

Users and partners need confidence that supported digital assets are handled through a defined custody framework. BitGo been serving institutional clients for over a decade. As UstarPay continues to connect supported digital assets with card-based spending use cases, theunderlying custody and governance infrastructure becomes increasingly important. BitGo's institutional infrastructure helps support the reliability required for these payment flows.

At UstarPay, compliance is not treated as the final step before launch. It is part of how products aredesigned, reviewed, and improved.

UstarPay's engagement of BitGo for custody services reflects that approach.

UstarPay is built around the idea of "Real Crypto, Real Life." That means making supported digital assets more usable in practical scenarios, including card based spending and real-world transactions. But for PayFi to move forward, usability must be matched by security, transparency, and compliance readiness.

The engagement of BitGo as the custodian for the digital assets holdings behind UstarPay's digital asset payment supports this next stage by strengthening the infrastructure that sits beneath the user experience. For users, the goal is simple: a smoother and more reliable way to use supported digital assets in everyday payment scenarios. For partners, the goal is broader: a payment infrastructure model with clearer custody arrangements and customer fund security. For the industry, the message is clear: real-world crypto adoption requires more than access. It requires trust that can be operationalized.

Every payment experience depends on invisible infrastructure. Users may only see the card, the wallet, or the transaction confirmation, but what matters just as much is the structure behind it.

UstarPay's engagement of BitGo is designed to make that structure stronger. By reinforcing a robust custody framework, across its digital asset payment flows, UstarPay is taking another step toward building payment infrastructure that is not only convenient, but also accountable.

In the future of PayFi, trust will not be defined by slogans. It will be defined by systems that can be tested, reviewed, and verified.

That is the direction UstarPay is building toward.
Hashtag: #UstarPay #BitGo #PayFi

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About UstarPay

UstarPay is a PayFi-based platform focused on digital asset applications and card infrastructure. The platform is dedicated to connecting supported digital assets with real-world spending and transaction scenarios.

Through wallets, cards, and related technology infrastructure, UstarPay provides eligible individuals and businesses with card and transaction application solutions based on supported digital assets.

UstarPay values compliance, transparency, and risk management. Depending on applicable products and processes, UstarPay considers identity verification, on-chain risk monitoring, asset custody, and transaction and settlement records as important elements in building traceable digital asset usage flows.

Guided by the concept of "Real Crypto, Real Life." UstarPay continues to explore how supported digital assets can become more closely connected to everyday life and business use cases under applicable conditions.

Relevant services are subject to applicable laws and regulations, user eligibility, supported assets, product settings, and geographic restrictions.

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About BitGo

BitGo (NYSE: BTGO) is the digital asset infrastructure company delivering custody, wallets, staking, trading, financing, stablecoins, and settlement services from regulated cold storage.

Since 2013, BitGo has focused on accelerating the transition of the financial system to a digital asset economy. BitGo maintains a global presence and multiple regulated entities, including BitGo Bank & Trust, National Association, the first federally chartered digital asset trust bank owned by a publicly traded company. Today, BitGo serves thousands of institutions, including many of the industry's top brands, financial institutions, exchanges, and platforms, and millions of investors worldwide.

For more information, visit www.bitgo.com.

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HONG KONG SAR – Media OutReach Newswire – 5 November 2026 – Education leaders from around the world gathered in Hong Kong for the World Class University Presidents Forum 2026 (November 4-5), further enhancing the city's prestige as a global hub for higher education and promoting academic collaboration and exchanges.

University presidents, renowned scholars and international education leaders representing more than one-third of the world's top 50 universities joined the Forum, which was held at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST). They discussed key issues such as talent cultivation in the intelligent age, technology and innovation driving the future economy, and universities' response to major global challenges.

Pictured at the World Class University Presidents Forum 2026 in Hong Kong are (from left) HKUST President, Professor Nancy Ip; HKSAR's Acting Chief Executive, Mr Chan Kwok-ki; the Minister of Education, Mr Huai Jinpeng; HKSAR's Secretary for Education, Dr Choi Yuk-lin; and HKUST Council Chairman, Professor Harry Shum.

"We live in an age of rapid technological change, systemic economic shifts, and unprecedented global challenges," Mr Chan said. "In this transformative landscape, universities are no longer just communities of learning and skills development. They are engines of innovation, guardians of truth, and architects of our collective future."

Mr Chan noted that higher education has always been a vital pillar of Hong Kong's success, with the city being home to five universities that are ranked among the world's top 100. Also, the latest QS World University Rankings: Asia 2027 (November 3), listed five Hong Kong universities in Asia's top 10, and three in Asia's top five, further demonstrating the strength of Hong Kong's higher education system.

Global Higher Education Forum Highlights Hong Kong’s Strategic Vision as International Talent Hub

"This is not by chance," Mr Chan said. "It is the result of sustained government investment, clear policy direction and the hard work of our universities."

Serving as a bridge between East and West, Hong Kong offers a fertile ecosystem characterised by internationalisation and diversification, which brings global talent together to address shared global challenges.

"Alongside signature international events such as the Asia-Pacific Association for International Education (APAIE) Conference and Exhibition held in February, the World Class University Presidents Forum 2026 forms part of a strategic series of signature initiatives promoting the 'Study in Hong Kong' brand worldwide, underscoring the city's role as a key driver shaping the future of global higher education," said Dr Choi Yuk-lin, the Secretary for Education of the HKSAR.

Dr Choi stressed that Hong Kong's educational future is taking concrete physical shape through the development of the Northern Metropolis University Town.

Under the "One town, Five elements" framework, the HKSAR Government is building a holistic campus ecosystem integrating higher education, advanced research, market innovation, vibrant living spaces, and top-tier talent.

"Positioned at the gateway to the Chinese Mainland, the University Town will foster deep Industry-Academia-Research integration, linking academic research directly with industry capabilities to serve national development under the 15th Five-Year Plan," Dr Choi said.

Several heavyweight interuniversity co-operation signing ceremonies were also held during the Forum. These included a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) on deepening collaboration between Central South University and Monash University; an MOU between Zhejiang University and the HKUST on the establishment of a joint innovation centre; a Trilateral Joint Seed Fund agreement among the University of Warwick, Nanyang Technological University, and Shanghai Jiao Tong University; as well as a student exchange agreement between Trinity College Dublin and Nanjing University, marking a new milestone in global higher education and research collaborative innovation.

"Assembling such a distinguished constellation of global academic leadership strongly reaffirms Hong Kong's standing as an international education hub and significantly enhances the city's discourse power in the global educational arena," Dr Choi said.

Hashtag: #HongKong #BrandHongKong #Education #Talent #University

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