Standard Chartered Makes History as First Major Bank to Launch Spot Crypto Trading

Wall Street's old guard just got a crypto wake-up call.

Standard Chartered—the $730 billion London-based banking giant—just bulldozed through regulatory hesitations to offer spot Bitcoin and Ethereum trading. No futures, no derivatives—just direct crypto exposure for institutional clients.

Why it matters: After years of 'blockchain not Bitcoin' posturing, a Tier 1 bank finally acknowledged the elephant in the vault. The move signals institutional FOMO is outweighing compliance headaches.

The fine print: Don't expect retail access anytime soon. This is strictly for hedge funds and corporate treasuries dipping toes in before the next bull run. (Bonus jab: Because nothing says 'financial revolution' like catering exclusively to the 1%.)

Bottom line: When conservative banks start racing for crypto revenue streams, the 'passing fad' argument collapses faster than a leveraged DeFi protocol.

One of the world’s biggest banks, Standard Chartered, stepped into the crypto world in a big way by launching spot trading services for Bitcoin and Ethereum. The bank’s UK arm has given institutional investors a way to buy and sell the two largest cryptocurrencies directly through a trusted, regulated bank.

Standard Chartered Opens Crypto Trading

The bank’s new service focuses on institutional clients, giving them direct access to deliverable Bitcoin (BTC) and ethereum (ETH) through a secure and fully compliant trading platform. 

One key point is that Standard Chartered now lets clients trade crypto using the same tools as foreign exchange. They can also choose where to store their coins, either with the bank or another trusted custodian.

But Standard Chartered isn’t stopping there

Right after this launch, the bank plans to bring in crypto derivatives too. These will include non-deliverable forwards (NDFs), a type of contract that lets investors bet on the future price of bitcoin and Ether without owning the coins directly.

Big Step for Digital Finance

Bill Winters, the group CEO, explained that digital assets are becoming a key part of the financial world’s future. He said the bank aims to help clients trade and manage crypto safely and efficiently while meeting rules and regulations. 

Last year, the bank rolled out its first regulated crypto custody service in the UAE, so this trading MOVE builds on that progress. It’s clear that Standard Chartered wants to lead the way in bringing crypto deeper into the mainstream banking world.

How This Will Impact Crypto

With crypto adoption on the rise, many large investors have been waiting for secure and regulated ways to enter the crypto market. By launching these services with strong safeguards, Standard Chartered is helping remove a huge barrier to crypto adoption. 

This move could inspire other big banks to follow, pushing cryptocurrency further into the mainstream.