Standard Chartered plans institutional crypto custody service in Singapore

Standard Chartered has announced plans to introduce digital asset custody services in Singapore for institutional and accredited investor corporate clients, covering selected cryptocurrencies, stablecoins and tokenized real-world assets.

Summary

• Standard Chartered plans to introduce custody services for selected cryptocurrencies, stablecoins and tokenized assets for institutional clients in Singapore.
• The proposed service will operate alongside the bank's existing Financing & Securities Services business, subject to applicable regulatory requirements.
• Standard Chartered already operates digital asset custody services in the UAE, Luxembourg and Hong Kong, and has backed institutional custodian Zodia Custody.
• The bank has not confirmed a launch date or disclosed which digital assets will be supported under its planned Singapore offering.

According to the bank's announcement, the proposed offering will operate alongside its existing Financing & Securities Services business, allowing clients to manage traditional and tokenized assets through its banking infrastructure.

The service remains subject to applicable regulatory requirements. Standard Chartered has not provided a launch date or identified the specific digital assets it intends to support.

The bank currently operates digital asset custody services in the UAE, Luxembourg and Hong Kong, with the Singapore proposal forming part of its ongoing investment in institutional digital asset infrastructure.

Standard Chartered to combine crypto custody with securities services

Under the proposed arrangement, Standard Chartered intends to bring digital asset custody into its established asset servicing operations in Singapore.

Institutional customers would be able to access safekeeping services for conventional financial assets alongside custody arrangements for cryptocurrencies and tokenized assets.

The bank said its existing Financing & Securities Services business would provide the operational foundation for the new offering.

Services are expected to cover different stages of an asset's lifecycle, including custody and servicing after assets have been tokenized.

Tokenized real-world assets are conventional financial assets represented digitally on blockchain networks. Their custody can involve safeguarding digital tokens while maintaining the records and servicing arrangements associated with the underlying assets.

Standard Chartered has not disclosed which tokenized instruments would qualify for its Singapore service or whether the offering would include settlement and transfer functions beyond custody.

Patrick Lee, CEO of Singapore and CEO of ASEAN & South Asia at Standard Chartered, described Singapore as an important financial innovation center with growing institutional demand for digital asset services.

"Singapore is an important centre for financial innovation, with a strong institutional ecosystem and growing demand for trusted digital asset solutions," Lee said.

He added that reliable infrastructure would be necessary to handle the movement, safekeeping and servicing of tokenized assets as institutional activity develops.

The planned service will be directed at institutional and accredited investor corporate clients, with no retail offering mentioned in the announcement.

Zodia Custody acquisition supports the bank's digital asset operations

Standard Chartered's Singapore proposal follows its efforts to bring specialist crypto custody operations into its existing banking business.

In May 2026, the bank agreed to acquire Zodia Custody's regulated custody business after the company's shareholders and noteholders accepted a nonbinding offer.

As previously reported by crypto.news, the proposed transaction would integrate Zodia's regulated custody activities into Standard Chartered's Financing & Securities Services division.

The agreement included plans to establish Zodia Solutions as a separate platform under SC Ventures, providing digital asset infrastructure to banks and other financial institutions.

The transaction remained subject to regulatory approvals and customary closing conditions when it was announced.

Standard Chartered helped establish Zodia Custody in 2020 alongside Northern Trust. Other investors in the business include SBI Holdings, Emirates NBD and National Australia Bank.

In June 2026, Zodia Custody secured a Luxembourg payment institution license from the Commission de Surveillance du Secteur Financier.

The authorization complemented its existing Markets in Crypto Assets license and allowed the company to provide regulated custody and transfer services for stablecoins across the European Union.

Zodia said the combination of licenses would help institutional clients manage electronic money tokens and other cryptoassets within a regulated framework.

At the time, the company said separate custody and transfer providers could create operational complications and counterparty exposure for institutions.

Zodia already held regulatory permissions in several markets, including Singapore, Hong Kong, the UAE, Australia and the UK.

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