Standard Chartered Prepares Crypto Prime Brokerage Under SC Ventures

Bank plans custody, financing, and market access services 

TL;DR

• Standard Chartered is planning a crypto prime brokerage under its SC Ventures unit, targeting institutional clients with custody, financing, and market access services.
• The structure is designed to reduce Basel III capital constraints, positioning the bank to scale digital asset services more efficiently.
• The move builds on existing infrastructure such as Zodia Custody, Zodia Markets, and recent institutional crypto trading and partnership expansions.

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Standard Chartered is preparing to expand deeper into institutional crypto services by developing a dedicated crypto prime brokerage within its innovation and venture arm, SC Ventures, according to reports published on January 12, 2026. The initiative remains at an early planning stage, with no official launch date disclosed, but the direction signals a strategic push to consolidate custody, financing, and trading access for professional crypto clients under a structure designed to manage regulatory and capital constraints more efficiently. By situating the business inside SC Ventures rather than the core banking entity, Standard Chartered is seeking to reduce balance-sheet exposure and mitigate the punitive capital treatment imposed by Basel III on unlicensed crypto assets, which can carry risk weightings as high as 1,250%.

The planned prime brokerage is expected to deliver a full institutional service stack, including digital asset custody, access to crypto markets, and financing solutions tailored to hedge funds, asset managers, and other professional investors. Reporting indicates that the effort will draw on existing SC Ventures-backed platforms such as Zodia Custody and Zodia Markets, suggesting the bank is layering new brokerage functionality on top of infrastructure it already controls or supports. Zodia Custody has been positioned as an institutional-grade custody provider, while Zodia Markets operates as a regulated digital asset brokerage and exchange platform, particularly in the UK and European markets, giving Standard Chartered a foundation for scaling prime brokerage services without starting from scratch.

The strategic logic behind the move reflects both regulatory realities and shifting institutional demand. Capital rules under Basel III have made it expensive for traditional banks to hold or directly intermediate crypto assets on their balance sheets, pushing firms to explore alternative structures that preserve compliance while enabling growth. Housing the prime brokerage within SC Ventures allows Standard Chartered to pursue digital asset expansion with greater flexibility, a model that could become more common across global banks as they seek exposure to crypto markets without absorbing disproportionate capital costs. Coincu’s reporting notes that this approach could lower barriers for other financial institutions considering similar services, potentially accelerating institutional participation across the sector.

Standard Chartered has already taken several steps that frame the prime brokerage plan as part of a longer-term digital asset strategy rather than a standalone experiment. During 2025, the bank became the first global systemically important bank to offer deliverable spot Bitcoin and Ether trading to institutional clients, marking a significant shift in how traditional lenders engage with crypto markets. The bank also expanded its partnership with Coinbase in December 2025 to cover trading, custody, staking, lending, and prime services, further embedding itself in the institutional crypto ecosystem. Additional collaborations, including work with FalconX on global banking and settlement services, underscore a pattern of building infrastructure and partnerships ahead of a broader brokerage rollout.

Executives at SC Ventures have repeatedly emphasized long-term conviction in digital assets, framing crypto infrastructure as a structural evolution in financial markets rather than a short-term trading opportunity. A representative cited in the reporting said digital assets remain a “high conviction theme” for SC Ventures, pointing to its portfolio of crypto-native ventures and investments as evidence of sustained commitment. While financial projections, asset targets, or revenue expectations for the prime brokerage have not been disclosed, the planned expansion aligns with a period of renewed institutional interest driven by clearer regulatory frameworks, expanding spot crypto products, and growing demand for bank-grade custody and financing solutions. For Standard Chartered, the move represents another step toward positioning itself as a bridge between traditional finance and digital assets, using regulatory-aware structures to compete in a rapidly professionalizing market.

This article has been refined and enhanced by ChatGPT.