Standard Chartered said it plans to offer digital asset custody services in Singapore for institutional clients. The British multinational bank said on Thursday that institutional and corporate clients are increasingly seeking secure, regulated, bank-grade custody for digital assets.
The bank already offers the service in the United Arab Emirates, Luxembourg, and Hong Kong. It said the Singapore offering will cover selected cryptoassets, stablecoins, and tokenized real-world assets.
Bank points to institutional demand in Singapore
Patrick Lee, CEO, Singapore and CEO, ASEAN & South Asia at Standard Chartered, said: 「Singapore is an important centre for financial innovation, with a strong institutional ecosystem and growing demand for trusted digital asset solutions.」
He added: 「Robust infrastructure will be critical to supporting the secure movement, safekeeping, and servicing of tokenised assets at an institutional scale.」
Digital asset expansion has been building
The report said banks around the world are integrating or offering bitcoin-related products and services, with a number of U.S. and European banks already providing crypto-related services through institutional custody.
In 2025, Standard Chartered set up a trading desk in London for bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies, becoming one of the first global banks to enter spot cryptocurrency trading. The crypto desk became part of the bank’s foreign exchange trading operation.
That same year, the bank launched a blockchain unit called Libeara to help institutions tokenize traditional assets. Last month, Standard Chartered also introduced bitcoin trading in the UAE for institutional clients.
Custody remains a common entry point for banks
Crypto custody is often a starting point for banks moving into digital assets, the report noted. BNY Mellon became the first major U.S. bank to offer digital asset custody services in 2022.
It also said Deutsche Bank stated last month that it plans to launch a custody service for bitcoin, ether, and select stablecoins for European corporate and institutional clients later in 2026, pending regulatory approval.
This report first appeared in Bitcoin Magazine and was written by Mathew Di Salvo.