Standard Chartered (LON: STAN) has announced its digital asset custody service in the UAE. The offering has been granted a licence by the Dubai Financial Services Authority (DFSA) within the Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC), a global financial hub, “following the memorandum of understanding (MoU) signed in May 2023.”
The service, which enables clients to keep their digital assets safe, has launched in the UAE due “to its well-balanced approach to digital asset adoption and financial regulation, and marks a significant milestone in the Bank’s digital asset strategy, initially supporting the two largest cryptocurrencies by market capitalization, Bitcoin and Ethereum.”
Brevan Howard Digital, the crypto and digital asset division of Brevan Howard, is confirmed as “the inaugural client for the product.”
The Bank plans to broaden its scope in the coming months “to encompass a wider range of digital assets, and is actively exploring opportunities to extend its custody services to other key financial hubs in its footprint markets.”