Standard Chartered Preps Crypto Prime Brokerage Inside SC Ventures
What Is Standard Chartered Planning?
Standard Chartered is preparing to launch a crypto prime brokerage business, according to people familiar with the matter cited by Bloomberg. The service would sit inside SC Ventures, the bank’s wholly owned innovation and venture unit, rather than within its main regulated banking entity. The plans are not public and remain under discussion.
The structure is deliberate. By placing the business inside SC Ventures, Standard Chartered may reduce the capital burden tied to direct crypto exposure. Under Basel III rules, banks must apply a 1,250% risk weight to holdings such as BTC, far higher than the capital treatment for certain venture-style investments. Operating through a separate unit gives the bank more flexibility as it develops services tied to digital assets.
A prime brokerage platform would allow institutional clients to access crypto markets with services such as custody, financing, and execution under a single umbrella. While the bank has not confirmed details, the move would place Standard Chartered closer to the core trading and liquidity needs of professional crypto investors.
Investor Takeaway
Why Use SC Ventures Instead of the Core Bank?
SC Ventures has long served as Standard Chartered’s testing ground for . Housing the crypto prime brokerage there keeps the activity at arm’s length from the bank’s balance sheet while still benefiting from its base.
The plan follows a December post from SC Ventures describing work on a digital-asset initiative called “Project37C.” The project was outlined as a “light financing and markets platform” focused on custody, tokenization, and market access. At the time, the bank did not label it as a prime brokerage or disclose external partners, but the description overlaps closely with services typically offered to hedge .
Standard Chartered declined to comment publicly on the plans when contacted. The lack of formal disclosure suggests the project remains in a preparatory phase rather than a finalized product launch.
How Does This Fit the Broader Bank Push Into Crypto?
Standard Chartered’s preparations come as large banks move beyond experimentation and into live digital-asset offerings. Policy signals in the United States have turned more permissive following President Donald Trump’s return to the White House, and several lenders have used that backdrop to expand trading, custody, and blockchain-based payment services.
JPMorgan has steadily built crypto-related infrastructure for years, begining with blockchain-based deposit accounts in 2019. The bank rolled out JPM Coin to in November and said last month that it is considering offering cryptocurrency trading services to institutions, according to Bloomberg.
Morgan Stanley has taken a market-access route. Last week, the firm filed to launch platform-traded funds tracking BTC, Ether, and Solana, placing it alongside asset managers already active in the U.S. spot crypto ETF market. While ETFs do not offer direct trading or custody, they give wealth and institutional clients exposure through familiar structures.
Custody-focused banks are also advancing tokenized money products. activated a tokenized deposit service for six institutional clients in January, extending its role as a bridge between traditional custody and blockchain-based settlement.
Investor Takeaway
What Does a Crypto Prime Brokerage Change?
Prime brokerage sits at the center of institutional trading. It combines execution, custody, financing, and reporting, allowing funds to run complex strategies without stitching together multiple providers. In crypto, these services have mostly been handled by specialized firms rather than global banks.
If Standard Chartered proceeds, it would bring a traditional banking model into a market still shaped by platform-led prime services. For institutional clients, that could mean stronger balance-sheet support, clearer legal frameworks, and integration with existing banking relationships.
The move also reflects a shift in how banks view digital assets. Rather than treating crypto as a side experiment, they are building infrastructure that mirrors established capital markets. The pace remains cautious, but the direction is clear: crypto services are moving closer to the core of institutional finance.
