Standard Chartered is exploring plans to establish a cryptocurrency prime brokerage as part of a broader push into digital markets, according to a report from Bloomberg.
The proposed business would be developed within the bank’s wholly owned innovation and investment arm, SC Ventures, rather than its core corporate and investment bank.
People familiar with the discussions said the plans are still at an early stage and there is no confirmed launch timeline.
Locating the business under SC Ventures could help the lender manage the capital impact of deeper involvement in digital assets.
A spokesperson for SC Ventures declined to comment.
Under Basel standards finalised in 2022, banks face a 1,250 percent risk weight for certain exposures to permissionless cryptoassets such as bitcoin and ether, a far heavier charge than for many other high risk asset classes.
Some speculative unlisted equity exposures, for example, carry a 400 percent risk weight.
Standard Chartered has been one of the more active global banks in the sector.
It has backed ventures such as Zodia Custody and Zodia Markets and has been expanding crypto services for institutional clients.
SC Ventures has also disclosed that it is developing a digital asset joint venture known as Project37C, which it has described as a light financing and markets platform spanning areas such as custody, tokenisation and market access.
The move comes as global lenders deepen their engagement with digital assets in response to growing institutional demand.
JPMorgan Chase has been reported to be considering offering crypto trading to professional clients, while Morgan Stanley has filed plans to introduce exchange traded funds linked to bitcoin and solana.
Spot crypto ETFs in the United States have accumulated about US$140 billion in assets since their approval two years ago, drawing more traditional investors into the market and driving demand for services such as financing, custody and securities lending.
That demand has fuelled dealmaking in crypto prime brokerage.
Featured image: Edited by Fintech News Singapore, based on image by Standard Chartered