TL;DR
- Standard Chartered will offer spot trading of Bitcoin and Ethereum for institutional clients in the United Arab Emirates, regulated by the DIFC.
- The bank becomes the world’s first G-SIB to offer this service in the Gulf region, strengthening its crypto offering from custody.
- Operations are integrated into the bank’s platforms, allowing transactions to be settled with the custodian of each client’s choice.
Standard Chartered launched spot trading of Bitcoin and Ethereum for institutional clients in the United Arab Emirates, through its entity regulated by the Dubai International Financial Centre. This positions the bank headquartered in London as the first global systemically important bank, a category known as G-SIB, to offer this type of service in the Gulf country.
Duly enabled institutional clients will be able to access spot buy-and-sell operations of BTC and ETH through the bank’s electronic channels, integrated into its platforms, including foreign exchange interfaces. They will also have the option to settle transactions with the custodian of their choice, among which is the bank’s own digital custody solution, launched in the Emirates in September 2024.
Standard Chartered’s Plans Take Shape
Standard Chartered’s expansion is the result of extensive work. In July 2025, the bank had already introduced institutional spot trading of Bitcoin and Ethereum at its United Kingdom branch, becoming the first G-SIB to offer that service globally. The progress made in the Emirates represents the consolidation of that strategy in one of the jurisdictions with the greatest regulatory appetite for digital assets.
In June 2026, the bank also signed a banking agreement with CoinMENA, the cryptocurrency exchange, to support client money account management and fiat on- and off-ramps. The move illustrates a service architecture that goes beyond one-off trading.
Competition in the region is also intensifying. In August, Capital.com revealed plans to offer spot crypto services in the Emirates after obtaining a virtual assets license from the Capital Markets Authority. In July, neobank Revolut received in-principle approval from Dubai’s Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority to operate cryptocurrency-related services in the region.
