Standard Chartered has received approval from Dubai’s Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority (VARA) to let wealthy clients in the United Arab Emirates buy and sell bitcoin and ether directly from their existing bank accounts, the bank said on Wednesday. It called the launch a global first for the group and the first crypto trading offering by an international bank in the UAE. VARA is the emirate’s dedicated crypto regulator.
“We are proud to be the first international bank in the UAE to launch a cryptocurrency trading offering.”
Rola Abu Manneh, chief executive for the UAE, Middle East and Pakistan, Standard Chartered
The service will open first to clients classed as Professional Investors in the UAE, the bank said, with plans to add other markets over time. Clients will not need a separate wallet or an outside platform. Trades are executed inside the bank, which handles custody and settlement end to end in what it calls a closed-loop model. The bank’s wealth and investment-banking arms built it with Zodia Markets, a firm backed by the bank’s venture unit, SC Ventures.
The bank has not published fees, minimum amounts or a date on which clients can start trading, and the release does not say whether coins bought this way can be moved to a wallet the client controls. CoinDesk also reported the closed-loop custody model.
Compared with what?
Until now, Standard Chartered clients could reach crypto only at one remove. The bank offered crypto ETFs through its equities trading platform, plus structured products and over-the-counter derivatives, according to the release. For readers new to the distinction, an ETF holds the coins for you and trades like a share; what a spot bitcoin ETF is explains how. What changes is ownership: the client now holds bitcoin or ether itself, with the bank as custodian.
The bank ties its choice of the UAE to wealth. It describes the country as one of its four global wealth hubs and points to its regulatory set-up as a reason for going there first. Mainstream brokers are bringing crypto into ordinary accounts too, as with Interactive Brokers’ move into ether staking on Tuesday.
Risks: a bank account does not make bitcoin or ether less volatile, and the regulated wrapper covers custody and conduct, not price. A closed loop also means relying on one institution to hold the keys; the trade-offs are set out in what a crypto custodian does.
What to watch: the published fee schedule, the first client trades, and which market Standard Chartered names next.
This article is for information only and is not investment advice.