Standard Chartered and Coinbase have expanded their partnership to develop institutional digital asset solutions, including trading, prime services, custody, staking and lending products.
The crypto-friendly bank and U.S. exchange announced the enhanced collaboration on December 12, marking a significant step toward bringing traditional banking infrastructure into institutional crypto markets.
The move positions both firms to capture growing demand from institutional clients seeking regulated access to digital assets with banking-grade security and compliance.
What Happened
The expanded partnership builds on an existing tie-up in Singapore, where Standard Chartered provides banking connectivity enabling real-time Singapore dollar transfers for Coinbase customers.
The two companies will jointly explore development of comprehensive institutional infrastructure across multiple service lines.
Margaret Harwood-Jones, Standard Chartered's global head of financing and securities services, said the bank aims to support clients as digital asset markets mature "in a safe, responsible and well-governed way."
"We aim to explore how the two organisations can support secure, transparent and interoperable solutions that meet the highest standards of security and compliance," Harwood-Jones stated.
The partnership comes as Coinbase gains institutional credibility, with JPMorgan recently launching its JPM Coin deposit token on Base, Coinbase's Ethereum layer-2 blockchain.
The November rollout allows JPMorgan institutional clients to conduct 24/7 near-instant payments using blockchain infrastructure.
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Why It Matters
Standard Chartered's deeper involvement signals traditional banking's accelerating embrace of institutional crypto infrastructure.
The bank will leverage its cross-border trading and custody capabilities to serve institutional digital asset clients.
Prime brokerage services remain critical for institutional adoption, providing custody, leverage, and settlement solutions that mirror traditional finance infrastructure.
Coinbase has positioned itself as a bridge between traditional finance and digital assets through regulated offerings and institutional partnerships.
The JPMorgan deposit token integration demonstrates major banks are actively building on Coinbase infrastructure for blockchain-based financial services.
Standard Chartered previously supported Coinbase's Singapore expansion, where the exchange launched its first international business platform targeting startups and small-to-medium enterprises.
The expanded partnership could accelerate institutional digital asset adoption by combining banking connectivity with crypto-native infrastructure at scale.
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