Standard Chartered’s innovation and venture arm, SC Ventures, has made a strategic investment in GSR, a leading crypto market maker. Announced on May 5, 2026, the deal makes SC Ventures the first external shareholder in GSR since the firm was founded in 2013. The investment, whose amount was not disclosed, signals a deepening institutional appetite for the infrastructure layer of digital asset markets.
GSR provides critical market-making, over-the-counter trading, advisory, asset management, and liquidity services to crypto projects and financial institutions. SC Ventures' backing positions the banking giant deeper into crypto trading infrastructure, moving beyond custody and advisory services. The partnership will focus on expanding tokenization, liquidity, and institutional access—areas where GSR has been building capabilities, including its recent involvement with Libeara, a tokenization platform also backed by SC Ventures.
“Institutional digital asset markets are maturing rapidly,” said GSR CEO Xin Song. “Firms best placed to lead will combine capital markets experience with trusted banking infrastructure, with tokenization as a starting point.” SC Ventures CEO Alex Manson added, “The next phase of the digital asset evolution will be defined by the strength of infrastructure.” The move aligns with SC Ventures' broader strategy, which recently included leading crypto market maker Keyrock’s $1.1 billion Series C round and preparing a $250 million digital asset fund.
GSR has also expanded beyond market making, entering token lifecycle services and launching the GSR Crypto Core3 ETF (ticker BESO) on Nasdaq. The fund covers Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Solana, applying weekly rebalancing, a 1% fee, and staking rewards where available. While no immediate product launches were announced, the SC Ventures investment could pave the way for joint services bridging traditional finance and crypto liquidity.
