Banking giant Standard Chartered recently announced that it has obtained a digital asset license in Luxembourg, officially entering the European crypto market, launching custody services for Bitcoin and Ethereum, and planning to expand globally, creating new opportunities for the integration of traditional finance and digital assets.

Standard Chartered obtained a Luxembourg license, establishing a new entity

As part of its global digital asset strategy, Standard Chartered recently announced that it has obtained a digital asset license in Luxembourg and established a new entity locally, aiming to meet the growing demand from its clients for secure and regulated cryptocurrency services.

It is worth mentioning that, as Luxembourg is a member state of the EU, this move by Standard Chartered must comply with the newly implemented (Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation (MiCA)) framework, setting a precedent for the legitimate operation of cryptocurrency and digital asset custody services.

(USDT market cap shrank due to the effectiveness of MiCA, Tether chose to invest rather than sacrifice returns to indirectly participate in the EU market)

To this end, Standard Chartered appointed Laurent Marochini, former head of the innovation department at Société Générale, as CEO of its Luxembourg entity, providing strong support for Standard Chartered's entry into the EU cryptocurrency market:

I am honored to join the leading international bank Standard Chartered Luxembourg as CEO, fully committed to providing excellent service to our clients, teams, and stakeholders.

It is reported that, in the face of the Bitcoin spot ETF craze that became an international focus early last year, Luxembourg has also been pointed out as one of the countries showing considerable interest.

Primarily custody services, no trading provided

According to Waqar Chaudry, head of the digital assets division at Standard Chartered, its business will primarily focus on BTC and ETH, with plans to incorporate more assets this year. Currently, the company only offers digital asset custody services, excluding trading functions.

Last September, Standard Chartered had just launched crypto custody services in the UAE, also focusing on BTC and ETH custody; at that time, the bank's CEO Bill Winters expressed strong optimism about this:

Digital assets are not just a fleeting trend, but a fundamental shift in the financial structure.

Standard Chartered accelerates its global crypto market layout

As a supporter of the digital asset custody institution Zodia Custody, the trading division Zodia Markets, and the real-world asset (RWA) tokenization platform Libeara, Standard Chartered has been committed to exploring custody, settlement, and tokenization in the crypto realm.

(JPMorgan and Standard Chartered's blockchain settlement company Partior completed $60 million in funding)

Previously, it was first reported last June that there would be plans to launch a trading platform for Bitcoin and Ethereum, but there has been no progress to date.

Margaret Harwood-Jones, Global Head of Financing Services at Standard Chartered, stated this in a press release:

We are pleased to offer digital asset custody services in the EU region, which is an innovative product that changes the landscape of traditional finance.

With the gradual implementation of crypto regulatory frameworks like MiCA, Standard Chartered continues to expand internationally, demonstrating its close attention to and long-term planning for the crypto market, and is expected to become an important player in the European digital asset custody space.

This article Standard Chartered obtains Luxembourg digital asset license, launching crypto custody services in Europe first appeared in Chain News ABMedia.