Standard Chartered Brings Institutional Crypto Trading to UAE
Standard Chartered has launched deliverable Bitcoin and Ether spot trading for institutional clients in the United Arab Emirates, marking its entry into the country's crypto market. The service allows eligible clients to trade BTC/USD and ETH/USD through the bank's established electronic trading infrastructure.
The UAE rollout extends the model introduced by Standard Chartered in July 2025 in its UK branch, where it became the first Global Systemically Important Bank (G-SIB) to offer institutional deliverable BTC and ETH spot trading. The combination of execution and custody services within a regulated framework is seen as a significant advantage for clients operating from the Dubai International Financial Centre.
Standard Chartered's digital-asset custody service, launched in September 2024, supports custody with another provider or use Standard Chartered's own regulated operation in the DIFC. The bank has also partnered with institutional liquidity provider B2C2 and agreed to acquire Zodia Custody, subject to regulatory approvals.
The launch of deliverable spot execution for BTC and ETH is seen as a major milestone in the development of institutional crypto trading infrastructure. With this service, clients can access crypto execution through a global bank while remaining within an established regulatory framework.