Standard Chartered Ventures arm to set up crypto fund in UAE

SC Ventures, the fintech investment arm of British bank Standard Chartered, will establish a “digital asset joint venture” investment company in the United Arab Emirates in partnership with Japanese financial conglomerate SBI Holdings.

In a press release from November 9, SC Ventures CEO Alex Manson outlined the goals of the new joint venture.

“[…] To make strategic and minority investments in areas such as market infrastructure, risk management and compliance tools, DeFi, tokenization, consumer payments and meta-adverse.

Manson highlighted the region's new role as a fintech hub by strengthening its infrastructure and capabilities. However, the joint venture will not limit itself to the regional market, but will “explore emerging digital asset ecosystem opportunities globally”.

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In May 2023, Standard Chartered signed a memorandum of understanding with the Dubai International Financial Center, allowing the bank to launch a global digital asset protection service for its institutional clients.

Last month, another by Standard Chartered and SBI Holdings – institutional cryptocurrency custody platform Zodia – launched its service in Hong Kong. Founded in 2021, the platform supports 38 cryptocurrencies and recently launched services in Japan, Singapore and Australia.

Standard Chartered has not neglected the other side of the digital economy by diving into the crypto custody business. In June, the bank, in collaboration with PricewaterhouseCoopers China, produced a white paper on the application of the central bank's digital currency in China's so-called Greater Bay Area, including Guangdong Province, Hong Kong and Macau.

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