LMAX Group and Standard Chartered (LON: STAN) have executed the first live trades under a digital asset prime brokerage model. The pilot transactions involved spot Bitcoin (XBT/USD) and Ether (XET/USD) pairs, settled on a T+1 basis through Standard Chartered’s UK branch. This marks the bank’s initial digital asset credit intermediation activity conducted via a prime brokerage framework.
The trades were carried out on LMAX Digital, LMAX Group’s regulated institutional venue for digital asset trading.
Standard Chartered’s Prime Brokerage team acted as the credit intermediary connecting counterparties, while post-trade settlement occurred through the bank’s digital asset custody platform in the Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC).
The exercise integrated LMAX Group’s execution and matching technology with Standard Chartered’s client connectivity, trade validation, and risk management systems.
This pilot validates a bank-grade approach to digital asset intermediation by combining Standard Chartered’s institutional balance sheet strength, governance standards, and risk controls with LMAX Group’s established market infrastructure.
It demonstrates how institutional clients could gain access to digital asset liquidity and trading through a prime brokerage structure supported by traditional finance-level compliance, credit, margin, and reporting frameworks.
Standard Chartered, a Global Systemically Important Bank (G-SIB), is among the first major banks to test this model, building on its digital asset trading capabilities launched in 2025.
The successful test covered key operational elements, including credit intermediation, trade booking, netting validation, and seamless end-to-end workflow between execution and settlement.
It provided valuable insights into integrating traditional and digital asset infrastructures while operating within established regulatory boundaries.
David Mercer, CEO of LMAX Group, highlighted the significance: “The lack of credit counterparties with robust balance sheets on the scale that we see in traditional finance has been a critical missing mechanism in the digital asset market to date.
This demonstrates how established market infrastructure and institutional workflows can come together to support the development of an institutional digital asset ecosystem.
It demonstrates how bank-grade balance sheet strength and risk management can be combined with proven market infrastructure to enable scalable digital asset market access.
This is a great example of the impending convergence of TradFi and digital assets to a cross-asset capital markets future.”
Alison Higgins, Head of Prime Services at Standard Chartered, noted that the pilot forms part of a wider effort to develop a comprehensive institutional digital asset offering.
“This pilot is part of our broader strategy to build a comprehensive institutional-grade digital asset platform, spanning custody, trading and prime brokerage,” she said.
“As demand accelerates, we are helping our Prime Brokerage clients capture new opportunities backed by the risk management, controls and balance sheet strength they expect from a G-SIB.”
The collaboration builds on Standard Chartered’s expanding digital asset activities, which include custody and trading services through its Corporate and Investment Bank, alongside related initiatives in tokenisation and custody infrastructure.
For LMAX Group, it reinforces its position as a leading operator of institutional execution venues across FX and digital assets.
The pilot is expected to inform future development of scalable prime brokerage solutions for digital assets, potentially enabling broader institutional participation with the safeguards and operational standards familiar from traditional markets. Both organizations indicated they will continue working together on advancing institutional-grade infrastructure in this space.