Standard Chartered has launched Bitcoin and Ether trading for affluent clients in the UAE.
Eligible clients can buy and sell the two cryptocurrencies directly through their existing Standard Chartered bank accounts, without separate wallets or third-party platforms.
The service has licensing approval from Dubai’s Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority (VARA) and will first be available to Professional Investor clients in the UAE.
The bank plans to expand it to other markets over time.
The launch is a global first for the bank and the first offering of its kind from an international bank in the UAE.
How the service works
Standard Chartered built the service through a collaboration between its Wealth and Retail Banking (WRB) and Corporate and Investment Banking (CIB) businesses, working with Zodia Markets, a digital asset firm backed by SC Ventures.
The bank executes trades within its own systems and manages custody and settlement end to end through a closed-loop model. Standard Chartered says this reduces clients’ exposure to third-party wallet risks.
“This solution gives eligible clients a simple and familiar way to access Bitcoin and Ethereum directly through their existing banking relationship, adding a new option to complement their broader investment portfolios while maintaining the standards of governance and oversight they expect from Standard Chartered,”
said Ayesha Abbas, Managing Director and Head of Affluent and Wealth Solutions, Europe, Middle East and Africa, and UAE, Standard Chartered.
The bank links the launch to growing interest in digital assets among affluent and high-net-worth investors, which it attributes to greater regulatory clarity and rising institutional adoption.
Part of a wider Standard Chartered digital asset push
Eligible wealth clients could already gain crypto exposure through the bank’s cash equities platform, which offers cryptocurrency ETFs, as well as through structured products and OTC derivatives.
The new service adds direct trading in Bitcoin and Ether to that range.
In September, Standard Chartered extended its institutional Bitcoin and Ether spot trading to the UAE through the DIFC.
The bank’s wider digital asset proposition spans custody, trading and tokenisation.
Its ventures ecosystem, which includes Zodia Markets and Libeara, extends these capabilities to meet client demand for regulated digital asset infrastructure and services.
Featured image credit: Edited by Fintech News UAE, based on image by mrsiraphol via Magnific
