Standard Chartered Plans Digital-Asset Custody in Singapore
The planned service covers selected cryptoassets, stablecoins and tokenised assets for institutions and accredited-investor corporate clients, subject to regulatory requirements.
By Lucas Ferreira, Journalist, Crypto Infrastructure
Standard Chartered Bank (Singapore) Limited said on October 8, 2026 that it plans to provide custody for selected cryptoassets, stablecoins and tokenised real-world assets. The intended customers are institutions and accredited-investor corporate clients, with the service subject to applicable regulatory requirements.
The announcement establishes a planned expansion of the bank’s Singapore asset-servicing business. It does not establish that clients can already use the custody service.
The Singapore scope remains a plan
Standard Chartered says custody will complement its Financing & Securities Services capabilities, connecting traditional asset servicing, tokenisation and digital-asset safekeeping. The bank attributes the move to growing institutional and corporate demand.
Its release does not identify the first supported tokens, a launch date, prices, custody technology or a first Singapore customer. It also does not name a new Singapore regulatory approval. Those details remain necessary to assess availability and operational scope.
For institutional users, the proposed connection between securities servicing and digital custody is the commercial point: the bank wants to support assets through a broader lifecycle, rather than offer only storage. That is an announced service design, not evidence of completed token issuance or settlement.
Existing UAE services provide a concrete comparison
The bank’s September 10, 2024 UAE release described a custody service that had launched, initially supporting Bitcoin and Ether, with Brevan Howard Digital named as its inaugural client. Those launch details belong to the UAE service and cannot be carried across to Singapore.
A separate September 3, 2026 announcement added institutional Bitcoin and Ether spot trading through Standard Chartered DIFC. Eligible institutions use the bank’s electronic trading channels and may settle with a custodian of their choice, including its existing custody service.
That UAE combination illustrates how execution and safekeeping can sit within a bank’s broader client relationship. Singapore’s October release announces custody plans; it does not announce an equivalent trading rollout. The distinction matters when evaluating which activities a client could move into one banking relationship.
What an availability check needs
A useful follow-up should establish the Singapore launch date, eligible customer onboarding, supported assets and applicable approvals. Until those are disclosed, the October 8 release supports a planned institutional custody proposition, with regulatory conditions still explicit.
Publication note, October 14, 2026: this article was prepared on October 10 but first reached the live website on October 14 after a deployment interruption. The publication date has been corrected to reflect that first deployment.