Crypto
Standard Chartered signs deal to take full control of crypto custodian Zodia Custody
The bank will fold Zodia's regulated custody arm into its securities services unit and spin the software business into a new venture backed by Northern Trust and Emirates NBD.
HedgeWeekly News Desk ·
Standard Chartered has signed definitive agreements to buy 100% of Zodia Custody Limited, the parent of Zodia's regulated digital-asset custody businesses in Singapore, Hong Kong, Australia, the UAE and Luxembourg, the bank said in London on Wednesday. No price was disclosed, and the deal still needs regulatory approval and other customary closing conditions.
The agreements formalise a non-binding offer that Zodia's shareholders and noteholders accepted in May. Under the plan, the regulated custody operations will be merged into Standard Chartered's own digital-asset custody activities within its securities services business, while Zodia's software and professional services arm moves to a new independent company, Zodia Solutions, under the bank's SC Ventures unit.
Zodia Solutions will keep supplying infrastructure to financial institutions, Standard Chartered among them. Its backers include Northern Trust, NAB Ventures, SBI Ventures, Emirates NBD, Investcorp's Zodia Investments and Further Ventures, alongside SC Ventures. The bank said it expects revenue synergies and no disruption for existing Zodia Custody clients.
Why it matters: the deal brings a custodian born as a 2020 joint venture between SC Ventures and Northern Trust onto a major bank's balance sheet, consolidating crypto safekeeping inside a regulated securities-services franchise. Standard Chartered obtained a Luxembourg licence for crypto custody under the EU's MiCA rules in January 2025 and later launched its own branded custody unit. For funds and allocators that hold digital assets through bank-grade custodians, the points to watch are the regulatory approvals across five jurisdictions and the closing date, which the bank has not given.