The partnership allows institutions to trade digital assets on OKX while their holdings remain securely custodied with the international bank under a MiCA license.
Digital asset exchange OKX and international banking group Standard Chartered have expanded their institutional partnership to the European Economic Area (EEA).
The announcement was made on Oct. 15, confirming that institutional clients in the region can now access a regulated framework for trading digital assets.
The program allows clients to hold their digital assets with Standard Chartered as an independent, regulated custodian. These holdings are then mirrored as collateral on the OKX platform, enabling institutions to trade in real-time without their assets ever leaving the security of the bank’s custody.
This structure directly addresses counterparty risk, a significant consideration for institutional investors in the digital asset market.
We've expanded our partnership with Standard Chartered Bank to Europe 🇪🇺
OKX will enable institutional clients to use Standard Chartered Bank – a globally systemically important bank and regulated digital asset custodian – to safeguard their assets while trading on OKX. pic.twitter.com/MgqI11nq3g
— OKX Institutional (@OKXInsto) October 15, 2025
This regulated environment is established under OKX’s comprehensive Markets in Crypto-Assets (MiCA) license. The license covers nine of ten service categories, positioning the exchange as a fully regulated operator in the European Union.
This regulatory footing has supported the exchange’s other recent European initiatives, such as its collaboration with PayPal to improve fiat-to-crypto accessibility.
Partnership Gains Traction
The expansion into Europe follows a successful launch in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) in April 2025. Since its debut, the program has attracted significant institutional interest, accumulating over $100 million in assets under custody.
The service has onboarded notable clients, including Brevan Howard Digital, a leading global alternative investment manager. The participation of established financial players highlights the demand for secure and regulated pathways for institutional engagement with digital assets.
For Standard Chartered, this collaboration is part of a broader strategy to integrate digital assets into its services. The bank has been actively expanding its presence in the sector, including launching its own crypto trading desk for institutional clients.
The bank also maintains a positive outlook on the market, with Standard Chartered’s Bitcoin BTC $91 348 24h volatility: 1.1% Market cap: $1.82 T Vol. 24h: $40.02 B forecast predicting significant price growth driven by institutional demand.
The bank is exploring other areas of the Web3 ecosystem as well, including its work on tokenized money initiatives.
OKX has also been focused on enhancing its platform and ecosystem. The exchange recently detailed OKX’s recent X Layer upgrade, a move designed to improve performance and optimize the network for DeFi applications.
The extension of the partnership provides a structured and secure solution for institutional clients in the EEA to participate in the digital asset market, combining the trading infrastructure of a major exchange with the custodial security of an established international bank.
next