Standard Chartered is weighing a plan to bring parts of majority-owned Zodia Custody into one of its in-house digital-asset businesses, in a move that would deepen the bank’s direct role in serving institutional demand for crypto-related services.
Under the proposal, Zodia’s custody operations would be combined with a similar business inside Standard Chartered’s corporate and investment bank, while the company would continue to run its software-as-a-service platform separately, Bloomberg News reported on Wednesday.
The report added that it was not clear whether the bank had held discussions with minority investors, including Northern Trust, Emirates NBD, National Australia Bank, and SBI Holdings. Standard Chartered and Zodia declined to comment.
Zodia: The Backbone of Standard Chartered’s Digital-Asset Strategy
Standard Chartered’s expansion in digital assets has been closely tied to the Zodia businesses, starting in late 2020 when SC Ventures and Northern Trust launched Zodia Custody for institutional clients seeking regulated crypto safekeeping, with the business securing registration from the UK Financial Conduct Authority in July 2021 and giving the bank an early presence in a market many traditional lenders were still approaching cautiously.
Standard Chartered broadened that push in 2021 with Zodia Markets, an institutional brokerage and trading venture that later expanded into the Gulf after securing approvals in Abu Dhabi Global Market.
In September 2025, SC Ventures was preparing a $250 million fund targeting digital-asset opportunities in financial services, with fundraising expected to start in 2026 and Middle East investors considered potential backers, adding to Standard Chartered’s broader push across custody, trading, and digital-asset investment.
Later in 2025, Standard Chartered said it had been appointed digital-asset custodian for 21Shares, one of the world’s largest crypto ETP providers, underscoring its push to win more institutional crypto partners.
Earlier this year, Zodia Custody began supporting AUDM, the Australian dollar stablecoin issued by Macropod, extending its offering to infrastructure designed for the institutional use of digital cash.
