Another major bank jumps onto the crypto bandwagon.
Standard Chartered Joins Crypto Boom
Standard Chartered Plc. is setting up a brokerage for digital assets.
The U.K. bank is embarking on the venture with BC Technology Ltd., a Hong Kong firm specializing in digital assets. It’s Standard Chartered’s first foray into the world of blockchains and cryptocurrencies.
Alex Manson, head of SC Ventures, told Bloomberg that he had a “strong conviction that digital assets are here to stay and will be adopted by the institutional market as a highly relevant asset class.”
Due to launch this fall, the new project will be based in the U.K. and will initially target the European market. The two companies are hoping to attract institutional traders by offering access to liquidity pools from other counterparties. Traders will be able to gain exposure to Bitcoin, Ethereum, and a range of other digital assets.
Standard Chartered isn’t the only major bank to join the crypto boom this year, with the likes of Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, and JP Morgan all making moves to embrace the technology. HSBC, on the other hand, has taken a different stance. The bank is “not into Bitcoin as an asset class” because of its volatility, CEO Neil Quinn confirmed last month.
