Standard Chartered moves to hold crypto and stablecoins for big investors in Singapore

Standard Chartered is bringing its crypto custody business to Singapore. The bank's Singapore unit said on Thursday, October 8, that it plans to offer safekeeping of selected cryptoassets, stablecoins and tokenised real-world assets to institutional clients and to corporate clients that qualify as accredited investors.

The plan is subject to applicable regulatory requirements, the bank said, and its statement gave no launch date. An executive told The Block the aim is to start by the end of 2026. The bank has not said which cryptocurrencies it will support. Cointelegraph asked and had not received an answer.

Standard Chartered already has digital asset custody operations in markets including the UAE, Luxembourg and Hong Kong. In Singapore the service will sit alongside its financing and securities services business, combining traditional asset servicing, tokenisation and digital asset custody.

The selling point is the bank itself. Ole Matthiessen, its global head of transaction services and digital assets, said that as a global systemically important bank it provides the trust, security and institutional safeguards needed for wider participation in the market.

The move follows the bank's bid for Zodia Custody, the crypto custodian it incubated with Northern Trust. In May the bank said its non-binding offer had been accepted, The Block reported. Zodia has served institutions in Singapore since September 2023.

What to watch: regulatory sign-off, a firm launch date and the list of supported assets.