Standard Chartered Bank is one of the world's largest international banks, headquartered in London and listed on the London Stock Exchange. Founded in 1853 as the Chartered Bank of India, Australia and China, it took its current form in 1969 following a merger with the Standard Bank of British South Africa. Despite its British domicile, the bank generates most of its revenue across Asia, Africa, and the Middle East – a geographic footprint that has shaped its approach to digital assets. Standard Chartered manages total assets exceeding $800 billion and employs roughly 85,000 people across more than 50 markets.
The bank entered the digital asset space earlier than most of its Western peers. Rather than waiting for regulatory clarity in mature markets, Standard Chartered built infrastructure first – founding dedicated subsidiaries, backing custody and exchange platforms, and publishing high-profile crypto market research. Its analyst team, led by Geoff Kendrick, became widely cited in financial media for Bitcoin price forecasts, giving the bank unusual public presence in the crypto discourse. The bank's venture and corporate development activity focused on institutional-grade infrastructure rather than early-stage consumer-facing protocols.
Notable investments
- Zodia Custody – Co-founded in 2020 with Northern Trust, Zodia Custody offers regulated digital asset custody for institutional clients. Standard Chartered holds a majority stake and led the initial build-out. The venture obtained FCA registration in the UK and expanded to Ireland and other jurisdictions. This is the bank's most direct ownership position in the crypto space.
- Zodia Markets – A separate entity also backed by Standard Chartered, Zodia Markets operates as an institutional crypto spot trading platform. It received regulatory approval in Gibraltar and Ireland and targets asset managers, hedge funds, and corporates seeking a bank-affiliated trading counterparty.
- Metaco – Standard Chartered participated in Metaco's 2022 Series A funding round. Metaco provides digital asset custody and tokenization infrastructure to banks. The company was acquired by Ripple in 2023 for approximately $250 million, delivering a notable exit for early backers.
- OSL / BC Group – Standard Chartered holds a strategic stake in BC Group, the Hong Kong-listed parent of OSL Digital Securities, a licensed crypto exchange and custodian in Hong Kong. The investment gave Standard Chartered exposure to one of Asia's first regulated crypto trading venues.
- Ripple / On-Demand Liquidity – Standard Chartered has partnered with Ripple on cross-border payment corridors in Asia and the Middle East, using Ripple's On-Demand Liquidity product. The nature of the commercial relationship versus direct equity investment is not fully disclosed publicly.
Team
Standard Chartered's digital asset activity is steered from the top. Bill Winters, Group CEO since 2015, has publicly endorsed blockchain infrastructure as a long-term priority. Margaret Harwood-Jones served as Global Head of Securities Services and was a key executive driving the Zodia Custody launch. The bank's crypto research is closely associated with analyst Geoff Kendrick, who heads digital assets research and has become one of the most-quoted institutional voices on Bitcoin price analysis. Day-to-day management of Zodia entities sits with dedicated leadership separate from the parent bank's structure.
Recent activity
Between 2023 and 2025, Standard Chartered accelerated its institutional push. Zodia Custody expanded its regulated footprint into additional European jurisdictions. The bank joined industry groups exploring tokenized real-world assets and participated in Project Guardian, a Monetary Authority of Singapore initiative testing asset tokenization with major financial institutions. In the UAE and Hong Kong – two of its priority growth markets – Standard Chartered engaged with local regulators on virtual asset service provider frameworks. The Metaco exit via Ripple's acquisition in 2023 validated the bank's early custody infrastructure thesis.
Standard Chartered occupies a distinct position among institutional crypto investors: it is not a venture fund chasing equity upside across dozens of bets, but a regulated bank building durable, licensed infrastructure. Its five known crypto positions reflect a deliberate strategy – own the custody and trading rails used by institutional clients rather than speculate on underlying assets. The risks are also institutional in nature: regulatory pressure in any of its core markets, reputational exposure if a portfolio company faces compliance issues, and the inherent tension between a conservative banking charter and a fast-moving asset class. For now, the bank's first-mover advantage in regulated crypto infrastructure in Asia and Europe gives it a credible foothold that few traditional banks can match.
