Standard Chartered plans to offer digital-asset custody in Singapore for selected cryptocurrencies, stablecoins and tokenized real-world assets, subject to applicable regulatory requirements.
The service is aimed at institutional clients and accredited-investor corporate clients, extending the bank’s custody business into another major financial center. Standard Chartered did not say which assets the service will support or when it will begin.
Standard Chartered (STAN) said the planned Singapore offering would add to a digital-asset business that already spans financial hubs including the United Arab Emirates, Luxembourg and Hong Kong.
The service will sit inside the bank’s securities business
The bank said Thursday that the custody service would be available to institutional clients and accredited investor corporate clients, subject to regulatory requirements. It will operate within Standard Chartered’s financing and securities-services business, not as a retail crypto product.
Ying Ying Tan, global head of digital assets and securities services at Standard Chartered, told CoinDesk by email that institutional use cases and client interest are emerging around tokenized funds, exchange-traded funds and precious metals as adoption grows.
She said: "As adoption grows, we are seeing institutional use cases and client interest emerge around tokenised funds, ETFs and precious metals, as clients look for more efficient ways to hold, transfer and mobilise assets."
Tan added: "Our Singapore launch further strengthens our ability to help clients bridge traditional and digital markets through secure, regulated and bank-grade infrastructure."
Not the first global bank to expand custody
The move is not a first for a global bank. CoinDesk noted that BNY had previously expanded its digital-asset custody platform to include USDC custody and minting, and later added staking.
Still, the Singapore plan broadens Standard Chartered’s custody footprint and explicitly includes stablecoins and tokenized assets alongside crypto.
Part of a wider digital-asset push
Standard Chartered has been building the business through its custody arm, Zodia. In May, the bank agreed to acquire the rest of Zodia Custody, a firm it founded with Northern Trust.
Last month, the bank also began offering institutional spot bitcoin and ether trading through the foreign-exchange platform of its Dubai branch.
Singapore service to cover more of the asset lifecycle
In Singapore, Standard Chartered said the planned custody service would support clients across a broader asset lifecycle, from safeguarding traditional assets to issuing and holding tokenized versions of those assets.
Patrick Lee, Standard Chartered’s Singapore chief executive, said the bank is seeing rising institutional demand for trusted infrastructure to move and safeguard tokenized assets.
The announcement did not identify which crypto assets, stablecoins or tokenized products it expects to support. It also did not say when the service will start.
Article update
CoinDesk said the story was updated on Oct. 8 at 11:14 UTC to replace a Matthiessen quote with one from Tan.