Standard Chartered is expanding its existing prime brokerage relationship with 24X to include spot Bitcoin and Ethereum trading, after the Bermuda-based trading platform said it had widened the partnership. The bank already acts as prime broker to 24X clients across foreign exchange non-deliverable forwards, FX spot, deliverable and non-deliverable swaps, and metals. Under the new crypto structure, clients face Standard Chartered as central counterparty rather than the market maker, while 24X handles execution, liquidity configuration, matching and straight-through processing.
24X says it becomes the first trading platform to offer both crypto and FX with Standard Chartered as the central counterparty. The first spot Bitcoin trade settled on 1 September with Cumberland DRW providing liquidity, and a second followed in October with Wintermute. That sequence means the bank tested the plumbing with two different liquidity providers before widening the mandate. The arrangement is not a traditional clearinghouse and does not include a disclosed mutualized default fund or comparable clearing protections.
The announcement did not include a launch date, client volumes or pricing. It also leaves open how the bank will size or capitalize balance-sheet usage. Standard Chartered’s crypto expansion comes against a restrictive prudential backdrop: under the Basel Committee’s cryptoasset framework, certain Group 2b exposures can attract a 1,250% risk weight, and guarantees, financing commitments or derivatives may still carry capital charges. The companies have not disclosed the regulatory capital treatment of the expanded service.
The move follows a broader Standard Chartered digital-asset push since August, including a Swift tokenized deposit ledger with HSBC, Hong Kong’s HKDAP distribution, UAE Bitcoin and Ethereum trading, Luxembourg custody via LMAX, Singapore custody plans, and RLUSD custody on the XRP Ledger. 24X itself operates across two regulatory regimes: 24X Bermuda Limited is supervised by the Bermuda Monetary Authority and is registered with the CFTC and NFA, while 24X National Exchange is a US national securities exchange.
For institutional desks, the relevant comparison is not just the number of liquidity providers but the combined cost of execution, financing, collateral and operational risk. The expanded Standard Chartered-24X service places the bank alongside institutional providers such as FalconX and Hidden Road, though its economics remain unproven until volumes, margin schedules and financing spreads are disclosed.
