Standard Chartered Introduces Crypto Trading Desk for Immediate Transactions in London

Standard Chartered is preparing to launch spot cryptocurrency trading for Bitcoin and Ether, making it one of the first global banks to enter this market. While crypto derivatives trading has been available for several years, spot trading is a new venture for the bank. The trading desk, based in London, will be part of the bank’s FX trading unit and is expected to commence operations soon.

According to a report by Bloomberg, Standard Chartered has been working closely with regulators to ensure compliance and meet the growing demand from institutional clients for Bitcoin and Ethereum trading. This move aligns with the bank’s strategy to support its clients in the wider digital asset ecosystem, providing services such as access, custody, tokenization, and interoperability.

Standard Chartered has been actively exploring various areas related to cryptocurrencies. Recently, it collaborated with Mastercard and Standard Chartered Hong Kong for a live experiment on deposit tokenization using the Mastercard Multi-Token Network (MTN). Additionally, the bank holds stakes in digital asset firms, Zodia Custody and Zodia Markets, through which it offers crypto custody and institutional crypto trading.

In addition to its involvement in the crypto market, Standard Chartered has also made noteworthy predictions for the price of Bitcoin. It has revised its 2024 forecast from $100,000 to $150,000 and predicts that the price will stabilize around $200,000 after reaching this peak. The bank further forecasts that BTC could reach an all-time high of $250,000 by 2025.

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