Standard Chartered Brings Bitcoin Trading and Custody to Affluent UAE Clients

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Published:Oct 14, 2026, 3:25 PM EDT

On Wednesday, the banking elephantine managing astir $1 trillion successful assets, Standard Chartered, revealed it is making caller moves inroads successful the United Arab Emirates (UAE). The slope explained that it is making it imaginable for affluent clients successful the UAE to bargain and merchantability bitcoin and ether straight done their regular slope accounts.

Published: Oct 14, 2026, 3:25 PM EDT

Standard Chartered Brings Bitcoin Trading and Custody to Affluent UAE Clients

Key Takeaways

  • Standard Chartered present lets affluent UAE clients commercialized bitcoin and ether straight done their slope accounts.
  • The slope partnered with Zodia Markets to connection crypto trading, custody, and colony services.
  • Dubai’s VARA approved the service, which initially supports lone bitcoin and ether for eligible clients.

Standard Chartered Brings Crypto Trading Directly to UAE Bank Accounts

Customers bash not request to unfastened an relationship astatine a centralized cryptocurrency speech (CEX) oregon negociate a abstracted integer wallet. The slope said connected Wednesday that this is the archetypal clip it has offered specified a work anyplace successful the world. It besides claims to beryllium the archetypal planetary slope to present this benignant of cryptocurrency trading work successful the UAE.

“As lawsuit involvement successful integer assets continues to grow, this motorboat represents a important milestone for Standard Chartered arsenic we bring integer assets into our halfway wealthiness offering,” explained Samir Subberwal, Standard Chartered’s planetary caput of wealthiness solutions, retail products, data, and analytics. “With integer assets moving into mainstream wealthiness conversations, clients are progressively looking not lone for access, but besides for the security, trust, and assurance that comes from investing done a regulated and trusted institution.”

Subberwal added:

“As a starring planetary wealthiness manager, we stay focused connected delivering innovative solutions that assistance clients seizure concern opportunities successful a rapidly evolving market.”

Zodia Markets Partnership Powers Bank’s New Crypto Offering

The slope volition instrumentality work for holding crypto assets and settling integer currency transfers. At the aforesaid time, Standard Chartered is moving with Zodia Markets, a cryptocurrency trading institution backed by its concern arm, SC Ventures. The concern combines the bank’s lawsuit services with nonrecreational cryptocurrency trading and retention systems.

The work has received support from Dubai’s Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority (VARA), the bureau liable for regulating cryptocurrency businesses successful Dubai. “The UAE was a earthy prime for this launch, fixed the country’s forward-looking attack to innovation, beardown regulatory environment, and increasing enactment successful integer assets,” remarked Rola Abu Manneh, Standard Chartered’s CEO for the UAE, Middle East, and Pakistan.

For now, “eligible affluent clients” tin bargain and merchantability bitcoin (BTC) and ether (ETH), with the bank’s announcement making nary notation of further crypto assets.

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