Standard Chartered announced that it will begin offering custodial solutions for digital assets to institutional customers in Singapore. The service is intended to meet growing demand for regulated, bank-level security when handling tokenised assets.
Service rollout in Singapore
The bank says Singapore's reputation as a hub for financial innovation and its mature institutional ecosystem make it an ideal location for the new offering. The custody product will be available to a select group of corporate and institutional clients, with the bank emphasizing robust infrastructure to safeguard the movement and storage of tokenised assets at scale.
Scope of assets covered
Customers will be able to store Bitcoin alongside a curated list of other crypto-assets, stablecoins and tokenised representations of real-world securities. The announcement does not specify the full roster of supported tokens, but it notes that the platform will focus on assets that meet the bank's risk and compliance criteria.
Bank's broader crypto strategy
Standard Chartered has been expanding its digital-asset footprint over the past two years. In 2025 the bank opened a spot-trading desk for Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies in London, integrating the operation with its foreign-exchange business. That same year it launched a blockchain unit called Libeara to help clients tokenise traditional assets. Earlier this year the bank introduced Bitcoin trading services for institutional investors in the United Arab Emirates.
Industry context
The launch follows a broader trend of legacy financial institutions entering the crypto-custody market. In the United States, BNY Mellon became the first major bank to provide custodial services for digital assets in 2022. More recently, Deutsche Bank signalled plans to offer custody for Bitcoin, Ether and certain stablecoins to European corporate and institutional clients, pending regulatory clearance. These moves reflect increasing institutional interest in secure, regulated pathways for holding and transacting with crypto-related products.
Why it matters
Standard Chartered’s entry into Singapore’s regulated custody space signals confidence in the region’s readiness for sophisticated digital-asset services. By extending its offering beyond existing markets, the bank not only diversifies its revenue streams but also contributes to the mainstreaming of crypto infrastructure. The development could encourage further adoption of tokenised assets among institutional investors, potentially accelerating the integration of blockchain technology into traditional finance.
