Standard Chartered to Offer Digital Asset Custody Services in Singapore
Key Takeaways
- •Standard Chartered plans to offer cryptocurrency custody services to institutional and corporate clients in Singapore, adding to existing custody operations in the UAE, Luxembourg, and Hong Kong.
- •The planned Singapore offering would cover selected cryptoassets, stablecoins, and tokenized real-world assets.
- •Bank leadership pointed to growing institutional demand for secure, regulated custody and described Singapore as an important center for financial innovation.
- •The bank has been steadily expanding its digital asset lineup, having launched a London spot crypto trading desk and the Libeara tokenization unit in 2025 before debuting bitcoin trading in the UAE last month.
- •The move reflects a wider banking trend, with BNY Mellon offering digital asset custody since 2022 and Deutsche Bank planning a European custody service later in 2026, pending regulatory approval.
Standard Chartered has announced plans to offer cryptocurrency custody services for institutional clients in Singapore, extending the British multinational bank's digital asset footprint across key financial hubs.
According to an official announcement made Thursday, institutional and corporate clients are increasingly seeking secure, regulated, bank-grade custody for their digital assets. Standard Chartered already provides the service in the United Arab Emirates, Luxembourg, and Hong Kong. With the planned addition of Singapore, that custody footprint would span markets across Asia, Europe and the Middle East.
"Singapore is an important centre for financial innovation, with a strong institutional ecosystem and growing demand for trusted digital asset solutions," said Patrick Lee, CEO, Singapore and CEO, ASEAN & South Asia, Standard Chartered.
"Robust infrastructure will be critical to supporting the secure movement, safekeeping, and servicing of tokenised assets at an institutional scale."
The news was also shared on X by Bitcoin Magazine (@BitcoinMagazine):
JUST IN: Standard Chartered Bank announced its plans to provide custody services for Bitcoin and digital assets today pic.twitter.com/Ynmdd5VEtP — Bitcoin Magazine (@BitcoinMagazine) October 8, 2026
Standard Chartered said the custody offering would cover "selected cryptoassets, stablecoins and tokenized real-world assets."
The move comes as banks worldwide integrate or roll out bitcoin-related products and services. A growing number of U.S. and European lenders have started providing crypto-related services by safeguarding assets on behalf of institutional clients.
Tokenization has become a prominent topic on Wall Street, with several traditional finance firms striking deals with crypto companies—mostly to bring stocks onto blockchains to enable 24-7 trading—while other asset classes are also being considered or introduced.
In 2025, Standard Chartered set up a trading desk for bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies in London, making it one of the first global banks to enter spot cryptocurrency trading. The desk was folded into the bank's forex trading operation. That same year, the lender launched a blockchain unit called Libeara to help institutions tokenize traditional assets. Last month, the bank debuted bitcoin trading in the United Arab Emirates for institutional clients. The Singapore plans would extend a digital asset lineup that already includes spot trading and tokenization services.
Crypto custody is often a starting point for banks moving into the digital asset space. BNY Mellon in 2022 became the first major U.S. bank to offer digital asset custody services. And last month, Germany's Deutsche Bank said it plans to launch a custody service for bitcoin, ether, and select stablecoins for European corporate and institutional clients later in 2026, pending regulatory approval.
This article first appeared on Bitcoin Magazine and was written by Mathew Di Salvo.
