Major British bank Standard Chartered has revealed its plans to start an institutional crypto brokerage and exchange in the UK and Europe.
SC Ventures, Standard Chartered’s innovation and ventures unit, formed a partnership with BC Group as part of the aforementioned plan.
SC Ventures and BC Group will be setting up a joint venture in the UK in order to connect institutional traders to counterparties and enable them to trade in cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin and Ether. The joint venture expects to launch in the Q4 of 2021, however that depends on the regulatory approval.
“We have a strong conviction that digital assets are here to stay and will be adopted by the institutional market as a highly relevant asset class,” remarked Alex Manson, Head of SC Ventures. “The new company will provide a brokerage and exchange platform to enable safe adoption and trading by the world’s largest and most demanding investors.”
Additionally, SC Ventures is currently working on launching Zodia Custody — an institutional crypto custody service. SC Ventures teamed up with Northern Trust last December for this initiative.
Standard Chartered is one of the conventional lenders that have become more involved with cryptocurrencies for the past few years. The banking giant currently offers crypto custody services and has other blockchain fronts under development.
