Bitcoin Trading Goes Mainstream: Standard Chartered Shakes Up Finance With Spot Desk Launch

Wall Street's old guard just got a crypto wake-up call. Standard Chartered—the $820 billion banking giant—is diving headfirst into Bitcoin spot trading, signaling institutional adoption isn't coming... it's already here.

Why this matters: When regulated banks start providing liquidity, the 'wild west' narrative collapses faster than a shitcoin rug pull.

The desk will service institutional clients, proving what crypto natives knew for years: digital assets aren't vanishing into regulatory oblivion. They're becoming the new plumbing of global finance—whether traditionalists like it or not.

Bonus jab: Meanwhile, gold bugs are still waiting for that inflation hedge to kick in after 50 years.

• Standard Chartered becomes the first G-SIB to launch deliverable spot crypto trading.
• Institutional clients gain access to BTC and ETH through regulated FX channels.
• Bank projects Bitcoin to reach $135,000 by Q3 2025 amid rising institutional inflows.

Standard Chartered, managing $1.1 trillion in assets, has made a decisive move into digital finance by launching a spot trading platform for Bitcoin and Ether, according to the report.

The British multinational bank now allows institutional clients to trade BTC/USD and ETH/USD pairs through its UK branch. This makes it the first global systemically important bank (G-SIB) to roll out deliverable spot trading in the two leading cryptocurrencies.

This new service operates on existing foreign exchange platforms used by the bank’s clients. That means corporations, asset managers, and professional investors can buy and sell digital assets using interfaces they are already comfortable with.

Standard Chartered’s entry into this market is indicative of an emerging trend in which conventional financial institutions are adopting regulated entry into crypto.

This facility enables clients to further choose how they make payments of their settlements. Clients can either avail themselves of third-party providers or use the in-house custody facility of the bank, which is FCA-registered.

This follows the bank’s earlier launch of its digital custody arm, Zodia Custody, as well as its trading arm, Zodia Markets.

Built on Strong Infrastructure and Risk Controls

Standard Chartered emphasized that its trading proposition is founded on the bank’s regulated financial framework.

Global Head of Trading and XVA of the bank, Tony Hall, explained further that the solution has enough institutional-grade risk controls in place as it is backed by a healthy balance sheet. That removes most of those legacy risks that have kept institutions away from crypto.

Through its credibility-based and compliance-focused approach, the bank aims to make buying and selling digital assets as convenient and secure as traditional finance.

Its existing platforms and controlled environment allow efficient digital asset risk management among institutional players. Its launch further offers a foundation on top of which future development can be built, with already laid plans of implementing non-deliverable forwards (NDFs) with digital asset tie-ins.

This move is in addition to Standard Chartered’s expanding presence in digital assets. It recently launched Libeara, a digital asset tokenization platform, further establishing its presence in the crypto economy.

Bitcoin Price Forecast Set at $135,000

Standard Chartered, in its broader strategy in digital finance, has previously given a price outlook of Bitcoin. Standard Chartered sees the asset reaching $135,000 in Q3 2025. That is because there WOULD be sustained institutional buying along with growing corporate treasury investments.

The second quarter of 2025 saw corporate institutions and spot ETFs acquire some 245,000 BTC. It is predicted in the bank’s view that this momentum will carry through in the third and fourth quarters, pushing prices higher.