The banking behemoth Standard Chartered has obtained a digital asset license under the MiCA framework and is launching cryptocurrency services in Europe via its new Luxembourg business.
One of the biggest banks in the world, Standard Chartered, has acquired a digital asset license in Luxembourg and is launching cryptocurrency services in Europe.
On January 9, the bank said that it was creating a new company in Luxembourg to serve as its regulatory entry point into the European Union for providing custody services for digital assets and cryptocurrency.
Following the adoption of the Markets in Crypto-Assets (MiCA) Regulation, a significant crypto regulatory framework in the EU, the action was taken.
The CEO of Standard Chartered’s Luxembourg division will be Laurent Marochini, a former head of innovation at the French banking giant Société Générale.
Waqar Chaudry, the bank’s head of digital assets, told Cointelegraph that Standard Chartered’s cryptocurrency offering in the EU would initially only include Bitcoin (BTC) and Ether (ETH), which are both down $94,182 and $3,319.91, respectively. Additional assets will be added later in 2025.
Crypto custody, or the service for keeping and safeguarding digital assets on behalf of their owners, will also be a unique feature of Standard Chartered’s crypto products in the EU.
According to Chaudry, Standard Chartered is the sole international bank in this sector and has a sizeable risk capital and balance sheet.
The Luxembourg launch is a component of Standard Chartered’s larger digital asset strategy, which aims to increase the company’s crypto custody services worldwide.
A few months have passed since the bank’s September 2024 debut of cryptocurrency custody services in the United Arab Emirates. The two biggest cryptocurrencies by market capitalization, Bitcoin and Ether, were also exposed as part of the offering by Standard Chartered.
In June 2024, it was originally reported that Standard Chartered was creating cryptocurrency trading services. According to some rumors, the bank will run the business out of London under its foreign exchange trading subsidiary.
However, the business has long been looking for ways to provide cryptocurrency trading services; in 2021, it was allegedly aiming to open a cryptocurrency exchange in Europe.
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