Standard Chartered will fully acquire Zodia Custody, a digital asset custody firm it originally launched with Northern Trust in 2020. The deal was finalized after Zodia’s owners and lenders agreed to Standard Chartered’s offer.
Okay, so Bloomberg is reporting that Standard Chartered has officially restructured its crypto custody services. Basically, they’re moving it out of their venture arm and integrating it directly into their main, regulated banking operations. As a crypto investor, this is huge – it’s the clearest sign yet that a major, globally important bank is taking digital asset custody seriously and treating it like a standard banking service, not just a side project. It feels like a real step towards mainstream adoption.
From Venture Subsidiary to Core Banking
Zodia Custody launched in late 2020 as a partnership between Standard Chartered’s SC Ventures and Northern Trust. It quickly became a fully regulated custodian for digital assets, with offices in London, Dublin, Luxembourg, Singapore, the UAE, Sydney, and Hong Kong. The company supports over 75 digital assets and employs around 150 people, holding regulatory licenses in the UK, Luxembourg, Hong Kong, and Singapore.
Northern Trust, Emirates NBD, SBI Holdings, and National Australia Bank – all representing minority shareholders – have agreed to a preliminary deal, though the specific details haven’t been made public.
As part of a reorganization, Zodia’s business serving Standard Chartered’s institutional clients will now be integrated into the bank’s Corporate and Investment Banking division. However, Zodia itself won’t be closing. It will still function as an independent platform, offering crypto custody services that other banks and fintech companies can brand as their own.
By combining its internal and external digital asset businesses, Standard Chartered has removed overlap and competition. Previously, both its in-house CIB digital asset unit and Zodia, its external platform, were targeting the same institutional clients. This became apparent when Standard Chartered launched its own crypto custody services in Luxembourg and began offering spot trading of Bitcoin and Ethereum to institutions – services that mirrored those already provided by Zodia.
StanChart’s Digital Asset Empire
The Zodia acquisition isn’t happening in isolation. It’s the newest move in a larger, ambitious plan by a major global bank to expand its offerings in the digital asset space.
Standard Chartered has been actively expanding its presence in the cryptocurrency space. Starting in January 2026, they began building a crypto prime brokerage through their SC Ventures division. In May 2026, SC Ventures invested in GSR, a crypto market maker valued at over $1 billion – marking GSR’s first external investment since 2013. Additionally, the bank has partnered with South Korea’s Hana Financial Group to explore stablecoin opportunities and is applying to be one of the first companies authorized to issue stablecoins in Hong Kong. Back in November 2025, they also launched a partnership with DCS Card Centre in Singapore to offer a credit card linked to stablecoins.
Our offerings now cover the complete digital asset lifecycle, including secure storage, trading, token creation, market making, prime brokerage services, and stablecoins. This comprehensive suite of services for institutions is unmatched by any other global bank.
In March 2026, Zodia Markets, the crypto trading platform of the bank, saw a change in leadership. Usman Ahmad left his position as CEO, and Nick Philpott took over temporarily. This leadership change happened just under two weeks before a restructuring of their custody services.
Why Banks Are Bringing Crypto In-House
Standard Chartered’s decision is part of a growing trend in global banking expected to continue in 2026. With clearer rules emerging around digital assets – thanks to regulations like the EU’s MiCA, the UAE’s VARA, Hong Kong’s stablecoin licensing, and the proposed U.S. CLARITY Act – traditional banks are now integrating their digital asset services into their main, regulated businesses instead of keeping them separate in experimental divisions.
Major financial institutions are increasingly moving into digital asset custody. BNY Mellon, the world’s largest custodian bank, has partnered with Finstreet and ADI Foundation in Abu Dhabi to offer these services. Morgan Stanley is seeking a national bank charter to securely hold and manage crypto assets under federal oversight, and State Street is growing its digital custody business. This market is currently worth over $1 trillion and is expected to surge to $7 trillion by 2035, with an estimated annual growth rate of 23.7%.
All of these actions rely on the same core idea: secure custody is essential for trading, lending, staking, and creating digital tokens. Without a reliable custodian connected to traditional banking systems, it’s difficult to attract significant investment from large institutions into the digital asset space.
With the integration of Zodia, Standard Chartered can now offer institutional clients a complete and regulated service for digital assets like Bitcoin, Ethereum, and stablecoins. This means clients can securely hold their crypto, trade it, use stablecoin credit cards, and explore tokenized assets all within the bank’s established framework, rather than relying on separate ventures, investments, or internal teams.
Read More
- Pi Hotel Vietnam: First to Accept Pi Coin Payments in Real-World Transactions
- Gold Rate Forecast
- USD IDR PREDICTION
- Warsh’s Fed Debut: A June Rate Cut? Don’t Hold Your Breath, Darling
- Silver Rate Forecast
- USD MXN PREDICTION
- EUR PKR PREDICTION
- KAS PREDICTION. KAS cryptocurrency
- Gold’s Mad Dash to $5,000: Will It Outrun Its Own Shadow?
- SOL GBP PREDICTION. SOL cryptocurrency
2026-05-18 13:41