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Bank launches UK-based spot desk for Bitcoin and Ether, targeting institutional clients.
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Service integrates with Standard Chartered’s foreign‑exchange platforms and adds crypto risk tools.
Standard Chartered has integrated Bitcoin and Ether into its core markets business. The new London desk, located within the foreign-exchange division, will provide quotes for deliverable spot trades to corporates, asset managers, and other professional investors.
By operating under its UK banking licence, the lender claims it can offer crypto settlement to the same standards as major currencies. Management says non‑deliverable forwards for digital assets will follow once demand justifies the next step.
Why the Bank is Moving Now
Spot volumes in Bitcoin and Ether have shifted from retail to regulated venues as institutions look for price certainty and counterparty strength. Approval of United States spot Bitcoin ETFs earlier this year increased liquidity and narrowed spreads, giving banks clearer hedging routes.
Standard Chartered already backs Zodia Custody and Zodia Markets, so operating its own desk lets the group capture trading margins while controlling client risk.
Infrastructure and Controls
Trades flow through the bank’s existing FX interfaces, allowing dealers to price crypto alongside dollar, euro, and sterling pairs. Post-trade processing utilizes the same reconciliation and risk engines as foreign exchange, with segregation of private keys managed by Zodia Custody.
The bank says this approach keeps capital treatment transparent for regulators and auditors, while providing clients with familiar straight-through processing. Early volumes will be fed directly into its market-risk books, with an internal limits framework mirroring that for emerging-market currencies.
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