Standard Chartered has become the first globally systemically important bank to offer spot Bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum (ETH) trading to institutional clients.
Banking giant Standard Chartered recently made an announcement to allow spot trading for Bitcoin BTC $108 467 24h volatility: 0.3% Market cap: $2.16 T Vol. 24h: $43.19 B and Ethereum ETH $4 353 24h volatility: 1.5% Market cap: $525.85 B Vol. 24h: $29.53 B for institutional clients, through its UK brand. This comes amid the rising demand for digital assets, better crypto regulations, and TradFi institutions warming up to crypto.
Standard Chartered Becomes First Global Bank to Offer BTC, ETH Trading
According to the announcement on July 15, Standard Chartered became the first global systemically important bank to provide secure, regulated, and scalable access to deliverable spot trading of Bitcoin and Ether.
The bank also revealed plans to soon introduce non-deliverable forwards (NDFs) for digital assets, further expanding its crypto trading offerings. Speaking to Reuters on the development, Standard Chartered Chief Executive Bill Winters said:
“As client demand accelerates further, we want to offer clients a route to transact, trade and manage digital asset risk safely and efficiently within regulatory requirements.”
The UK-based banking giant has been introducing pro-crypto services in other regions as well. Earlier this year, in January 2025, the bank launched such services in Luxembourg.
The recent launch of BTC, ETH trading in Britain comes as Bitcoin hits a fresh all-time high at $123,000, driving the broader crypto market rally. ETH price also surged past $3,000 with a solid 20% rally on the weekly chart.
Bitcoin Price Rally Could Continue to $200K, Says Standard Chartered
Standard Chartered has recently issued a bold forecast for Bitcoin, predicting that the cryptocurrency could reach $200,000 by the end of 2025.
The bank attributes its bullish outlook to strong inflows into spot Bitcoin ETFs, rising corporate treasury allocations, and favorable macroeconomic and policy developments that continue to support institutional adoption.
As of press time, Bitcoin is facing a short pullback of 5%, trading just under $117K, from its all-time high of $123,000. The broader crypto market is preparing for the US CPI data release, as the inflation development could hiner further rally.
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