Coinbase and Standard Chartered Forge Major Partnership to Expand Institutional Crypto Services

Cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase and global banking giant Standard Chartered have announced a significant expansion of their collaboration, aiming to provide enhanced digital asset services to institutional clients in regulated markets worldwide. The partnership, building on a prior arrangement in Singapore, focuses on improving trade execution, custody, staking, and lending capabilities for banks, hedge funds, asset managers, and family offices.

The core of the partnership involves building crypto prime services, where Standard Chartered integrates these offerings with its existing banking systems, and Coinbase contributes its trading infrastructure and liquidity solutions. A key feature is the flexibility for institutional clients to settle trades with their preferred custodian, including Standard Chartered, allowing them to maintain existing regulatory and risk management frameworks while accessing Coinbase's markets.

Operational improvements are a major focus. The collaboration leverages Standard Chartered's banking connectivity to enable real-time fiat currency transfers, significantly reducing settlement delays. This was first demonstrated in Singapore with real-time Singapore Dollar (SGD) transfers. The expansion will extend these capabilities to more regulated markets, though consumer-facing products will remain unchanged.

This move is a direct response to growing institutional demand for compliant digital asset access. Standard Chartered is leveraging its systems to create interoperable, secure solutions that meet stringent industry standards. Notably, the bank recently launched 'DeCard' with DCS, a system enabling stablecoin payments via a credit card-like mechanism.

Concurrently, Coinbase has significantly expanded its geographic footprint, launching its platforms in 11 new countries across Latin America and Southeast Asia, including Argentina, Mexico, Peru, Colombia, Chile, India, Hong Kong, South Korea, Indonesia, the Philippines, and New Zealand. This brings Coinbase's total reach to 53 countries. The company highlighted a market shift, noting that crypto-to-crypto trading now accounts for 51% of verified global volume, overtaking traditional fiat-to-crypto trading.