Standard Chartered has signed definitive agreements to acquire 100% of Zodia Custody, the crypto custodian incubated by its venture arm, the bank said on Wednesday. The deal still needs regulatory approvals and customary closing conditions. Financial terms were not disclosed, The Block reported.
The buyer is Standard Chartered I H Limited. It will take over Zodia Custody Limited, the parent of regulated operating companies in Singapore, Hong Kong, Australia, the United Arab Emirates and Luxembourg, the release says.
The business model is simple: a custodian holds crypto for institutions that cannot or will not hold their own keys, and charges them for the safekeeping. Standard Chartered wants that fee line inside its own Securities Services business rather than in a sister company.
The deal
After completion, Zodia’s regulated custody business will be merged into the bank’s existing digital asset custody activities within Securities Services. The bank says the move will unlock revenue synergies and support a single offering for traditional and digital securities services.
The software and professional services side is being split off. Its assets move to Zodia Solutions, a new independent company under SC Ventures, which will keep selling infrastructure to banks, Standard Chartered included.
Zodia Solutions’ named backers are NAB Ventures, Northern Trust, SBI Ventures Asset, Q Studio (Further Ventures), Emirates NBD, Zodia Investments (Investcorp) and Zodia Holdings, which SC Ventures owns. “Financial institutions are moving beyond digital asset pilots towards operating services at scale,” said Craig Perrin, its chief executive.
Why the bank is paying
“The acquisition of Zodia Custody further deepens our digital asset custody portfolio,” said Ying Ying Tan, Standard Chartered’s global head of Securities Services and Digital Assets. The bank already runs crypto custody of its own; the purchase consolidates the two businesses, as the release puts it, under one roof.
The timing fits the bank’s recent moves. On 14 Oct it launched bitcoin and ether trading for professional investors in the UAE, built with Zodia Markets, another SC Ventures firm; see the bank’s UAE trading launch. Fintechs are adding custody licences of their own as well, as with Revolut’s Gibraltar custody licence.
The open questions
The deal has taken longer than planned. Zodia’s shareholders and noteholders accepted the bank’s non-binding offer on 18 May, according to the bank’s statement at the time. The Block reports that definitive agreements were first targeted for the end of June and completion for the end of August.
The leadership has changed too. Former chief executive Julian Sawyer stepped down in September and Richard Clark, previously chief revenue officer, took over, The Block reports. The bank has not given a new completion date.
The bank says existing Zodia Custody clients will “continue to be serviced as usual” and expects no disruption. For how a custodian holds client coins, see what a crypto custodian does.
The next milestone is regulatory approval in the five markets where Zodia’s regulated entities operate.
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This article is for information only and is not investment advice.