Standard Chartered plans Singapore custody for crypto, stablecoins and tokenized assets

Standard Chartered said on October 8, 2026 that it plans to launch digital-asset custody services in Singapore covering selected cryptocurrencies, stablecoins, and tokenized real-world assets, aimed at institutional and accredited corporate clients rather than retail customers. The planned service would be housed within the bank’s existing Financing and Securities Services division, positioning digital-asset custody as an extension of services the bank already provides around traditional securities safekeeping and financing.

The announcement is explicitly conditional on two things: regulatory approval from Singapore authorities, and the completion of Standard Chartered’s acquisition of the regulated custody business of Zodia Custody, a digital-asset custody firm the bank first announced it would acquire in May 2026. Until both conditions are satisfied, the custody service remains a stated plan rather than an operating offering, and Standard Chartered has not disclosed a target launch date or a specific list of supported cryptocurrencies, stablecoins, or tokenized assets.

Singapore has positioned itself as a hub for institutional digital-asset infrastructure, with the Monetary Authority of Singapore running a licensing regime for digital payment token services and actively courting banks and custodians to build regulated infrastructure in the jurisdiction. A major global bank like Standard Chartered adding licensed custody capacity there would extend a pattern seen among other international banks expanding institutional crypto and tokenized-asset services in Asian financial centers, where regulatory clarity has in some cases moved faster than in other major markets.

For institutional clients, bank-provided custody is generally viewed as carrying different counterparty and regulatory assurances than custody provided by crypto-native firms, which is part of what makes banks’ entry into this space commercially significant even before a single new service actually launches. Whether Standard Chartered’s Singapore custody offering meets that bar in practice will depend on details the bank has not yet made public: the specific assets supported, the custody technology and security model used, and the precise regulatory status under which the service will operate once the Zodia Custody acquisition closes.