Standard Chartered Lets Wealthy UAE Clients Trade Bitcoin and Ether Directly
The London-based bank is offering bitcoin and ether trading through existing accounts, using a closed-loop custody model so clients skip separate crypto wallets.
Standard Chartered launched direct bitcoin and ether trading for professional investors in the UAE, a first for an international bank there, with custody handled in-house.
What's the tea?
Standard Chartered just rolled out crypto trading for wealthy clients in the UAE. Eligible investors can buy and sell bitcoin and ether straight from their existing bank accounts. The bank says it's the first international bank to offer this kind of service in the UAE.
The rollout is limited to clients classified as professional investors for now. Standard Chartered also says this is its global first, marking the first time the London-based lender has offered crypto trading directly to wealthy clients in any market.
How it works
The bank keeps custody and settlement in-house through a closed-loop model. That means clients don't need separate crypto wallets or third-party trading platforms. The service pulls together the bank's wealth and retail banking and corporate and investment banking units, and operates through Zodia Markets, which is backed by Standard Chartered's SC Ventures.
Standard Chartered says it has licensing approval from Dubai's Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority (VARA). The bank already offered institutional bitcoin and ether spot trading via its U.K. arm in July last year and expanded that to the UAE on Sept. 3. It also gives eligible clients access to crypto exchange-traded funds (ETFs), structured products and over-the-counter derivatives.
The bank plans to expand the service to other markets but gave no timetable.
The takeaway: Standard Chartered is moving deeper into crypto custody and direct trading, starting with wealthy clients in the UAE.
Summary written by Oh Cannot from the original report by CoinDesk. Not financial advice.
