Standard Chartered moves to bring crypto custody in-house as Wall Street’s digital asset infrastructure race accelerates

Standard Chartered has signed an agreement to acquire Zodia Custody outright, bringing its institutional cryptocurrency custody business under direct ownership.

The London-based bank said on Oct. 21 that its subsidiary, Standard Chartered I H Limited, will acquire 100% of Zodia Custody, including regulated operations across Singapore, Hong Kong, Australia, the United Arab Emirates and Luxembourg.

The agreement advances a takeover proposal Zodia's shareholders and noteholders accepted in May, moving the transaction toward completion pending regulatory approvals.

Under the arrangement, Standard Chartered will integrate Zodia's custody operations into its Securities Services division, adding cryptocurrency safekeeping to its existing traditional securities and digital asset services.

The consolidation would allow Standard Chartered to serve institutional investors through a unified platform, potentially generating additional revenue from custody, settlement and other services as banks and asset managers increase their exposure to digital assets.

Ying Ying Tan, Standard Chartered's global head of Securities Services and Digital Assets, said the acquisition would strengthen the bank's custody portfolio and expand its ability to serve institutional clients globally.

The planned takeover also follows a series of investments by Standard Chartered to expand its digital asset business.

Earlier this month, the bank introduced custody services for Ripple's RLUSD stablecoin, alongside plans to integrate the token into collateral arrangements with LMAX Group.

It has also expanded Bitcoin and Ethereum trading for institutional investors in the UAE and announced plans to offer custody for selected cryptocurrencies, stablecoins and tokenized real-world assets in Singapore.

These developments would let Standard Chartered combine trading, custody, and collateral management within its existing banking relationships, potentially reducing institutional clients' reliance on multiple service providers.

Zodia restructuring opens another institutional revenue opportunity

Beyond bringing custody under its direct control, Standard Chartered is spinning off Zodia's software and professional services division into a new company, Zodia Solutions.

The independent business, established under the bank's venture arm SC Ventures, will provide digital asset infrastructure to financial institutions seeking to launch or expand blockchain-based financial services.

Investors will include Northern Trust, NAB Ventures, SBI Ventures, Emirates NBD, and other financial institutions, while Standard Chartered will remain a customer.

The arrangement gives the bank exposure to a separate technology business serving financial institutions, even as it consolidates regulated custody operations within its traditional banking structure.

Zodia Solutions Chief Executive Craig Perrin said financial institutions were increasingly moving beyond experimental digital asset projects toward full-scale operations, creating demand for specialist infrastructure providers.

The separation also reflects the different commercial opportunities emerging as traditional financial institutions expand their cryptocurrency businesses.

Custody providers can earn revenue by safeguarding institutional assets, while infrastructure companies can supply the underlying technology to banks that want to offer similar services without building their own platforms.

Standard Chartered's wider digital asset strategy already includes Zodia Markets, which provides trading infrastructure, and Libeara, a tokenization platform.

Together, these operations give the bank access to several parts of the institutional digital asset market, from tokenized securities and trading to custody and technology services.