Standard Chartered launches spot Bitcoin and Ethereum trading

The bank is rolling out the service to a select group of investors, positioning itself as the first major global bank to do so.

According to a Tuesday Reuters report, Standard Chartered is launching spot trading for Bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum (ETH) through its UK branch. The service will be offered specifically to institutional clients, including corporates, asset managers, and professional investors.

The move marks a significant step, positioning the firm as the first global bank to provide regulated, deliverable access to crypto spot markets at scale. Clients will be able to trade BTC and ETH through familiar FX trading interfaces, with support for non-deliverable forwards set to be introduced in the future.

Commenting on the rollout, Standard Chartered said CEO Bill Winters emphasized that the service launch is aimed at meeting growing demand with secure, efficient, and fully compliant access to digital asset trading.

“As client demand accelerates further, we want to offer clients a route to transact, trade, and manage digital asset risk safely and efficiently within regulatory requirements,” said Winters, according to the report.

While most banks have limited their crypto exposure to custody or tokenization, Standard Chartered is one of the first to take the plunge into fully regulated, real-time crypto trading for major assets. The move builds on the bank’s broader digital asset strategy, which already backs Zodia Custody and Zodia Markets, two regulated platforms focused on institutional crypto infrastructure.

With spot crypto trading now live, Standard Chartered’s move reinforces that crypto assets like BTC and ETH are becoming part of the institutional financial stack, not just on paper, but in actual market execution. The bank’s move isn’t happening in isolation and comes as part of a much broader industry trend. 

Institutions step up as crypto demand goes mainstream

From new service offerings to treasury reserve strategies, traditional financial heavyweights across the board are taking crypto more seriously, particularly as the assets solidify their position as worthy investment options with long-term viability. 

Bitcoin recently broke into the top six global assets by market cap, reaching $2.3 trillion and overtaking the likes of Silver and Google. That surge has been powered in part by strong ETF inflows, driven by major asset managers like BlackRock and Fidelity, and a wave of corporate adoption.

Meanwhile, both Bitcoin and Ethereum posted strong performance last week, with BTC jumping 12% and ETH climbing 10%. Bitcoin hit a new all-time high of $123,000, while Ethereum rallied past $3,000, bouncing back from months of underperformance.

While prices have since cooled to more modest ranges, the rally once again reinforced that BTC and ETH are no longer fringe assets, but rather formidable players in the global financial scene.