Standard Chartered Initiates Direct Spot Trading for BTC and ETH for Institutions

Standard Chartered, a UK-based bank, has launched direct spot trading for Bitcoin and Ethereum, marking itself as the first internationally acknowledged financial institution to do so. This service allows institutional clients to trade BTC and ETH directly through the bank's established FX trading interfaces. The trades are "deliverable", which means that customers will receive actual crypto assets upon settlement.

Initially, this service will be accessible during Asian and European trading hours. The bank also plans to introduce non-deliverable forwards (NDFs) trading for these crypto assets. This move by Standard Chartered is part of its wider strategy to offer digital asset solutions, including the launch of a Luxembourg entity for regulated crypto custody services and a Hong Kong dollar-pegged stablecoin in partnership with Animoca Brands and HKT.