Standard Chartered · United Arab Emirates · Ethereum · Bitcoin · United Kingdom · Decrypt
Standard Chartered Opens Bitcoin and Ethereum Trading to Wealthy UAE Clients
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Standard Chartered will now let its wealthier clients in the United Arab Emirates buy and sell Bitcoin and Ethereum straight from their bank accounts, the British lender announced Wednesday.
Key facts
- In June, Geoff Kendrick, Standard Chartered's global head of digital asset research, declared crypto winter over after Bitcoin slid to nearly $59,000, a 53% drop from its October 2025 peak of $126,000
- Rola Abu Manneh, Standard Chartered's CEO for the UAE, Middle East and Pakistan, said the country was a natural choice given its regulatory environment and its role as one of the bank's four global
- The service opens first to clients classified as Professional Investors and runs under licensing approval from Dubai's Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority, or VARA
- The bank built the product across its Wealth and Retail Banking and Corporate and Investment Banking units, working with Zodia Markets, a digital asset trading firm backed by Standard Chartered's
Summary
Standard Chartered launched direct Bitcoin and Ethereum trading for affluent UAE clients on Wednesday after receiving licensing approval from Dubai's Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority. Eligible Professional Investor clients can buy and sell BTC and ETH through their existing bank accounts, with the bank handling custody and settlement in a closed-loop model built with SC Ventures-backed Zodia Markets. The bank called the service a global first for Standard Chartered and plans to expand it to other markets, though it gave no timeline. The move eliminates the need for its affluent clients to rely on separate wallets or third-party platforms, the bank said.