Banking giants that were once critical of crypto are slowly turning towards the digital assets space.
On 8th October, Standard Chartered Bank Singapore announced its plan to offer crypto custody services to institutional clients and accredited investor corporate clients.
Standard Chartered’s crypto shift
For people new to the space, the bank will now securely hold and safeguard digital assets on behalf of these customers. This is very similar to traditional banks and custodians holding stocks, bonds, and other financial assets.
Here, the service will cover select cryptocurrencies, stablecoins, and tokenized real-world assets. However, the entire operation will be subject to Singapore’s regulatory requirements.
So, now instead of institutions having to rely entirely on crypto-native exchanges or specialist custodians to store their digital assets, they could potentially use a regulated global bank such as Standard Chartered.
This could make institutional investors more comfortable entering the crypto market because custody would come with established banking controls, security procedures, and regulatory oversight.
For those unaware, Standard Chartered already provides digital asset custody capabilities in markets such as the UAE, Luxembourg, and Hong Kong. Expanding to Singapore will further strengthen its global digital asset custody network.
What are the execs saying?
Remarking on the same, Patrick Lee, CEO for Standard Chartered Singapore, ASEAN & South Asia, said,
Singapore is an important centre for financial innovation, with a strong institutional ecosystem and growing demand for trusted digital asset solutions.
Echoing similar sentiments, Ole Matthiessen, Global Head, Transaction Services & Digital Assets at Standard Chartered, added,
As client demand continues to grow, we will continue investing in our digital assets capabilities across key financial centres, connecting clients to opportunities through a secure, integrated and globally connected platform.
This update coincided with a recent report by AMBCrypto. It noted that Standard Chartered is expanding its stablecoin strategy by becoming an authorized distributor of HKDAP, a Hong Kong dollar-backed stablecoin issued by Anchorpoint Financial.
Final Summary
- Instead of institutions having to rely entirely on crypto-native exchanges to store digital assets, Standard Chartered will act as a regulated global bank.
- Standard Chartered already provides digital asset custody capabilities in markets such as the UAE, Luxembourg, and Hong Kong.
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