Standard Chartered has announced that its offer to acquire the business of Zodia Custody has been accepted by shareholders.
The deal, announced Monday, will consolidate Standard Chartered’s digital asset custody operations while separating a standalone infrastructure platform for institutional clients.
Zodia Solutions will be established as an independent entity under SC Ventures, backed by several banking investors, including existing Zodia Custody shareholders, and will provide “bank-grade infrastructure” to financial institutions, including Standard Chartered, as they expand digital asset services.
Zodia Custody was originally launched in 2020 by Standard Chartered and Northern Trust as a regulated crypto custody platform for institutional investors.
The bank said the transaction will “drive value by unlocking revenue and cost synergies” while enabling a more comprehensive offering to digital asset custody clients globally.
Related: Standard Chartered takes stake in crypto market maker GSR
Standard Chartered to acquire Zodia Custody’s custody business. Source: Standard Chartered
Margaret Harwood-Jones, global head of financing and securities services at Standard Chartered, said in the release that the deal would accelerate the growth of Standard Chartered’s global digital asset custody portfolio.
The companies said they do not expect the transaction to disrupt existing custody clients, who will continue to receive services as usual.
A Standard Chartered spokesperson declined to comment further.
Broader bank push into digital asset custody
In April, Bloomberg reported that Standard Chartered was considering bringing parts of Zodia Custody in-house by merging the custody business into an existing division, while leaving Zodia to operate as a software-as-a-service platform.
The announcement formalizes that strategy amid a broader push by major banks to secure trust bank charters and other regulatory structures to custody crypto directly for clients.
BNY Mellon, for example, launched its Digital Asset Custody platform in the US as far back as 2022, enabling selected clients to hold and transfer Bitcoin (BTC) and Ether (ETH) alongside traditional assets on a single platform.
In February 2026, Morgan Stanley applied for a US de novo national trust bank charter. The charter would allow it to custody certain digital assets for clients within a bank-regulated framework.
Magazine: Singapore isn’t a ‘crypto hub’ — it’s something better: StraitsX CEO
Be the first to comment