Standard Chartered to Merge Zodia Custody into Digital Asset Unit

• The plan is to integrate Zodia into SC’s corporate and investment banking division.
• Zodia would continue operating independently as a SaaS provider for crypto custody.
• There’s no official announcement yet, and it’s unclear where minority investors stand.

Bloomberg reports that Standard Chartered (the London-based bank) is considering merging parts of its majority‑owned crypto custodian, Zodia Custody. The plan is to integrate Zodia into Standard Chartered’s corporate and investment banking division, which already serves institutional clients with digital asset services.

Zodia would continue operating independently as a SaaS (Software-as-a-Service) provider for crypto custody.

An official announcement is yet to be made, and it’s still unclear where things stand with minority investors like Northern Trust, National Australia Bank, Emirates NBD, and SBI Holdings.

Zodia Custody launched in 2020 as a joint venture between Standard Chartered and Northern Trust, built to offer top‑tier crypto custody for institutions such as asset managers and hedge funds. It was also made for banks entering the crypto market.

Standard Chartered Recent Developments

Back in January, Standard Chartered started building a crypto prime brokerage inside its SC Ventures unit. That came after a November deal with DCS Card Centre to back stablecoin‑linked credit cards in Singapore.

The bank has also teamed up with trading firm B2C2 to provide institutions with better access to crypto markets. 

Most recently, a few days ago, Standard Chartered was appointed as the digital asset custodian and settlement agent for TP ICAP’s Fusion Digital Assets platform, which is a system built for institutional trading.

On the other hand, Zodia Custody hasn’t slowed down either. It collaborated with Apex Group to offer combined custody and fund administration services.

Last year, the company teamed up with Galaxy Digital to provide institutional staking services in Europe, backing about $4.2 billion in staked assets at the time.

Even with a possible restructuring in its ownership setup, Zodia Custody has kept growing and now runs seven offices in huge hubs like London and Singapore.

In the end, if the official announcement comes, Standard Chartered’s integration of Zodia Custody would be yet another big step in the blurring line between traditional finance and crypto.

Compared to trading, custody has higher margins and lower risk. For banks, owning that infrastructure lets them pull in business from asset managers, hedge funds, corporate treasuries, and tokenized securities markets.

Related: Standard Chartered Rolls Out Bitcoin and Ether Spot Trading for Institutional Clients