PANews reported on June 21 that according to Bloomberg, people familiar with the matter revealed that Standard Chartered Bank is setting up a trading desk for Bitcoin and Ethereum, a move that will make the bank one of the first global banks to enter spot cryptocurrency trading. It is reported that the new cryptocurrency trading desk will be put into operation soon and will be operated by London as part of Standard Chartered Bank's foreign exchange trading department.
Previously, although many banks, including Goldman Sachs, have long been involved in cryptocurrency derivatives trading, they have not been able to directly trade these underlying assets due to strict regulatory restrictions. The Basel Committee on Banking Supervision's proposal to implement a 1250% risk weight on unhedged cryptocurrency exposure has made direct trading more difficult.
Standard Chartered Bank said in an emailed statement that it has been committed to working closely with regulators to meet the trading needs of institutional clients for Bitcoin and Ethereum, and this move is highly consistent with its strategy of supporting clients in the development of a broader digital asset ecosystem, including access, custody, tokenization and interoperability. A Standard Chartered Bank spokesperson declined to comment further.
