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Standard Chartered to launch Bitcoin and Ether trading from London – Financial News
By Bilal Jafar
Financial news
Standard Chartered is set to become one of the first international banks to enter the cryptocurrency trading spot market as the bank prepares its trading desk for the emerging asset class.
The new London-based crypto trading desk, which will be part of Standard Chartered’s FX trading unit, will trade bitcoin and ether, the world’s two largest crypto assets by market capitalization, Bloomberg reported.
Bitcoin has a market capitalization of $1.2 trillion, while ether’s market value is around $428 billion, according to Coinmarketcap.
Standard Chartered’s cryptocurrency spot trading desk to trade bitcoin and ether won’t be the company’s first foray into the emerging multi-trillion dollar asset class. The company supported the launch of Zodia Markets, a crypto exchange and brokerage platform, in 2021.
Standard Chartered also has a stake in crypto custodian Zodia Custody.
Institutional interest in crypto spot trading surged after the SEC approved bitcoin spot ETFs in January. Some of the world’s largest hedge funds, including Izzy Englander’s Millennium Management and Paul Singer’s Elliott Management, began buying Bitcoin ETFs for cash in the first quarter.
Banks weren’t far behind in the Bitcoin ETF craze. Morgan Stanley owned about $270 million worth of Bitcoin ETFs as of March 31, CoinDesk reported.
Standard Chartered said the company was working closely with regulators to meet demand from institutional clients to trade bitcoin and ether.
Nomura is another banking giant that has been betting big on crypto for years. The bank established cryptocurrency trading and asset management company Laser Digital in September 2022. Nomura appointed its chief digital officer Jez Mohideen as CEO of Laser Digital.
Nomura also created crypto custodian Komainu as a joint venture in 2018 with CoinShares and Ledger.
Financial News is owned by News Corp, the parent company of The Wall Street Journal and Dow Jones Newswires.
Website: www.fnlondon.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
06/21/24 0848ET