The crypto trading venture will target institutions and corporates in the UK and Europe.

SC Ventures, the venture arm of Standard Chartered (LON: STAN) and BC Technology Group (HKG: 0863) announced today their plans to establish a digital asset brokerage and exchange platform for institutional and corporate clients in the UK and Europe. BC Technology is the parent company of Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission (SFC)-licensed digital-asset platform OSL. (Standard Chartered)

Institutional focus

The new venture, expected to launch in the fourth quarter of 2021, will be based in the UK. The unit promises to deliver “access to deep pools of liquidity in bitcoin, ethereum, and other digital assets” to institutional traders in Europe. As well, it will connect these clients to counterparties across the global markets.

According to Standard Chartered, rising trading volumes on the major crypto exchanges across the globe have drawn the attention of its institutional customers. The bank said many of these clients wanted to test the digital waters.

The new unit will be led by BC Technology Group Chief Information Officer Usman Ahmad as CEO, while Nick Philpott of SC Ventures will be COO.

Full digital infrastructure

“We have a strong conviction that digital assets are here to stay and will be adopted by the institutional market as a highly relevant asset class,” said Alex Manson of SC Ventures. “We are constructing the building blocks for a safe and reliable investment infrastructure: on the back of Zodia Custody, which will ensure safe and compliant custody for institutional investors, the new company will provide a brokerage and exchange platform to enable safe adoption and trading by the world’s largest and most demanding investors.”

Standard Chartered launched Zodia Custody, an institutional-grade custody solution for digital assets, in December 2020 in partnership with Northern Trust (NASDAQ: NTRS).

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