Standard Chartered Plots Singapore Digital Asset Custody Launch by Year-End, Adding Fourth Global Hub
Standard Chartered Plots Singapore Digital Asset Custody Launch by Year-End, Adding Fourth Global Hub #
Standard Chartered plans to launch a digital asset custody service in Singapore before the end of the year, targeting institutional clients and accredited-investor corporate clients. The offering would cover selected cryptocurrencies, stablecoins, and tokenized real-world assets, subject to applicable regulatory requirements.
The London-headquartered bank announced the plans on Thursday. Singapore would be the fourth jurisdiction where Standard Chartered offers digital asset custody, alongside the United Arab Emirates, Hong Kong, and Luxembourg.
The Singapore service would sit within Standard Chartered’s Financing and Securities Services business rather than operate as a standalone or retail-facing product. The bank said the structure is designed to let institutional clients manage conventional assets and their tokenized equivalents under a single custody framework, supporting them across a broader portion of the asset lifecycle.
Ole Matthiessen, Standard Chartered’s global head of transaction services and digital assets, described regulated custody as a foundational requirement for the digital asset market. He said the bank intends to keep investing in its digital assets capabilities across major financial centers as client demand grows. Ying Ying Tan, the bank’s global head for digital assets and securities services, cited growing institutional appetite for tokenized funds, exchange-traded funds, and precious metals as a driver of the expansion.
Patrick Lee, Standard Chartered’s chief executive for Singapore, ASEAN and South Asia, said Singapore’s position as a financial innovation center and its institutional ecosystem are driving demand for digital asset infrastructure. The bank did not specify which cryptocurrencies or tokenized products the Singapore custody service will support, nor did it set a formal launch date.
The Singapore announcement follows a period of expansion in Standard Chartered’s digital asset operations. In May, the bank announced an agreement to acquire the custody business of Zodia Custody, the institutional custodian it co-founded with Northern Trust in 2020. More recently, it launched institutional spot trading for Bitcoin and Ether through the foreign-exchange platform of its Dubai branch. The Singapore service would extend regulated safekeeping to one of Asia’s most active digital asset markets.
Copy link