Standard Chartered has launched a fully integrated digital assets trading service for institutional clients, becoming the first global systemically important bank to offer deliverable spot cryptoasset trading.
The UK-headquartered bank said the new service enables institutional clients to trade Bitcoin (XBT/USD) and Ether (XET/USD) via its UK branch, with non-deliverable forwards (NDFs) to be introduced in the near future.
The platform is designed for institutional participants such as corporates, investors and asset managers.
Clients will be able to access the service via Standard Chartered’s existing trading infrastructure, including FX interfaces, and can settle trades to their preferred custodian. This includes the bank’s own Financial Conduct Authority-registered digital assets custody solution.
“Digital assets are a foundational element of the evolution in financial services,” said Bill Winters, group chief executive officer of Standard Chartered.
“They’re integral to enabling new pathways for innovation, greater inclusion and growth across the industry. As client demand accelerates further, we want to offer clients a route to transact, trade and manage digital asset risk safely and efficiently within regulatory requirements,” he added.
The new trading service is the latest move in Standard Chartered’s broader digital assets strategy, which also includes Zodia Custody and Zodia Markets – two ventures focused on institutional-grade crypto custody and trading – as well as digital asset tokenisation services through Libeara.
Tony Hall, global head of trading and XVA at Standard Chartered, said: “We are applying our global expertise, infrastructure and risk management frameworks that our clients trust to the digital assets space. With growing interest in regulated digital assets solutions, we are well positioned to meet client needs while capturing the opportunities in this space.”
The bank said its new trading service is intended to address key challenges institutional clients face when accessing crypto markets, such as regulatory uncertainty and infrastructure fragmentation, by operating within its regulated banking framework.
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