Standard Chartered is preparing for a major move to take crypto trading among global banks to a new dimension.
According to Bloomberg, people with knowledge of the matter said that Standard Chartered has established a trading unit for Bitcoin and Ethereum and will be the first global bank to start spot cryptocurrency trading. People who informed that the newly established crypto unit is close to becoming operational stated that this unit will be a part of the FX trading department. According to the information obtained, the bank's crypto unit will be managed from London.
Many global banks have been trading derivative products based on cryptocurrencies for years. However, the lack of regulatory clarity and strict rules on this issue are seen as the biggest obstacle for banks to trade crypto directly.
However, the Basel criteria recommend that banks apply a 1.25% risk weight for unhedged crypto exposure. This practice is also seen as an obstacle to crypto trading as it negatively affects the profitability of banks.
In the Bloomberg news, it was stated that the following statements were made in an e-mail sent from Standard Chartered:
“We are working closely with our regulators to support demand from our institutional customers to trade Bitcoin and Ethereum. “We are working towards our strategy to support customers across the broader digital asset ecosystem, from access and custody to tokenization and interoperability.”
Standard Chartered continues to expand in the crypto space
Apart from its latest crypto move, Standard Chartered currently offers a variety of services, from crypto custody services to over-the-counter trading. It is also known that the bank has shares in crypto companies such as Zodia Custody and Zodia Markets.
The bank also launched a blockchain unit called Libeara last year to provide traditional asset tokenization services for corporates.
On the other hand, Standard Chartered analysts also come to the fore from time to time with their predictions for Bitcoin. Analysts last predicted that Bitcoin could reach 150 thousand dollars by the end of the year.
-Investing.com
