Standard Chartered lets affluent UAE clients trade Bitcoin and Ether from bank accounts
Eligible clients can buy and sell BTC and ETH without a separate exchange account or wallet, with Zodia Markets executing trades and the bank handling custody.
ETFS & INSTITUTIONS
Daniel Hartley
10/14/20261 min read
Standard Chartered has launched Bitcoin and Ether trading for eligible affluent clients in the United Arab Emirates, the bank announced on October 14. Customers can buy and sell the two assets directly through their regular bank accounts, without opening an account at a crypto exchange or setting up a separate digital wallet. The bank called it the first such service worldwide and the first of its kind from an international bank in the UAE.
Trades are executed in partnership with Zodia Markets, a crypto trading firm backed by the bank's investment arm SC Ventures, while Standard Chartered handles custody and settlement. Dubai's Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority (VARA) approved the service. Only Bitcoin and Ether are supported at launch, and the announcement does not mention other crypto assets.
Samir Subberwal, the bank's global head of wealth solutions, retail products, data and analytics, described the launch as a significant milestone. Rola Abu Manneh, CEO for the UAE, Middle East and Pakistan, said the UAE was a natural choice for the rollout. Bitcoin.com News describes Standard Chartered as managing nearly $1 trillion in assets.
Source: Bitcoin.com News.