British bank Standard Chartered (STAN) has become the first global lender to offer spot trading in Bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum (ETH) to institutional clients.
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The crypto trading feature, which is now operational across Standard Chartered’s branches in the United Kingdom (U.K.), is available during Asian and European trading hours only. However, the bank says it is considering offering trading in Bitcoin and Ethereum around the clock, 24 hours a day, five days a week.
In a statement, the bank said that Standard Chartered is “the first global systemically important bank to be offering crypto asset trading.” Standard Chartered also said that it defines institutional clients as asset managers and multinational companies that are clients of its corporate and investment banking division.
Crypto Bull
Standard Chartered is known for being a crypto bull and has been involved in digital assets for a long time. The bank offers digital asset custody and trading through its corporate and investment bank. It also offers digital asset tokenization services.
The new crypto trading service is being integrated into Standard Chartered’s existing trading platforms, allowing corporate clients, asset managers, and institutional investors to access crypto markets through familiar interfaces, said the bank. Clients can settle trades to a custodian of their choice, including Standard Chartered’s in-house custody service.
Standard Chartered said that its focus for now is on Bitcoin and Ethereum, the two largest cryptocurrencies. However, the bank says it plans to eventually expand the crypto trading service to include other digital assets. BTC is currently trading at $116,031 and is up 28% on the year.
Is BTC a Buy?
Most Wall Street firms don’t offer ratings or price targets on cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin, so we’ll look instead at its three-month performance. As one can see in the chart below, the price of BTC has risen 43.72% in the last 12 weeks.
