British multinational bank Standard Chartered has agreed to buy digital asset custodian Zodia Custody, months after signing an agreement to acquire the London-based firm.

A statement from Zodia Custody on Wednesday said the deal will see the company's services integrated into Standard Chartered's existing digital asset custody activities. The bank announced the acquisition in a press release, while Zodia Custody published its own statement.

The acquisition is part of Standard Chartered's push to expand its crypto-related offerings worldwide. Earlier this month, the bank said it plans to offer crypto custody services for institutional clients in Singapore. It already provides the service in the UAE, Luxembourg, and Hong Kong.

“As institutional adoption of digital assets accelerates, custody is increasingly becoming part of the global banking landscape,” Zodia Custody CEO Richard Clark said.

He added: “Zodia Custody has built a strong business with the specialist expertise and capabilities to meet the needs of institutional clients. Bringing that expertise together with Standard Chartered's global reach and established banking platform will strengthen its digital asset custody offering and provide institutions with greater access to trusted, regulated custody services worldwide.”

Ying Ying Tan, global head of securities services and digital assets at Standard Chartered, said the deal “further deepens our digital asset custody portfolio and reinforces our position as a leading provider of digital asset services globally.”

Zodia Custody shareholders approved Standard Chartered's offer to buy the company in May. The firm custodies bitcoin and other digital assets for institutional clients and asset managers, safeguarding the private keys that control those assets so institutions do not have to manage them in-house.

Standard Chartered has moved deeper into the crypto space in recent years. In 2025, the bank 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. It has since rolled out custody and trading services in countries around the world.

Major banks worldwide are launching or planning to launch crypto custody services, with State Street, Standard Chartered, U.S. Bank, and Citigroup all committing to direct crypto custody over the past 18 months. Crypto custody is often a starting point for banks entering the digital asset space: BNY Mellon in 2022 became the first major U.S. bank to offer digital asset custody services. From here, the milestones to watch are how quickly Zodia's services are folded into Standard Chartered's custody network and the bank's planned rollout of custody services in Singapore.

This article originally appeared on Bitcoin Magazine and was written by Mathew Di Salvo.