Standard Chartered-owned crypto platform Zodia launches in Hong Kong

Zodia, the institutional cryptocurrency custody platform co-owned by British banking large Commonplace Chartered, Japanese SBI Holdings and the monetary agency Northern Belief, is increasing its providers to Hong Kong.

Zodia Custody is launching providers in Hong Kong in response to rising demand for crypto from establishments, Zodia CEO Julian Sawyer said, based on a CNBC report on Oct. 29.

In accordance with Sawyer, the crypto demand in Hong Kong is principally pushed by institutional buyers relatively than retail clients, ideally matching Zodia’s crypto custody providing. He additionally talked about that Hong Kong’s stance on crypto aligns with Zodia’s ambitions because the native authorities “sees digital belongings as the long run and likewise needs Hong Kong to be a hub.”

Zodia’s launch in Hong Kong comes because the agency aggressively scales operations in Asia, opening providers in Japan, Singapore and Australia in current months.

“What we’re seeing is there are completely purchasers in all of these 4 markets who need to do issues,” Zodia CEO mentioned, including:

“We additionally see lots of different purchasers and prospects exterior these 4 jurisdictions that need to are available on the institutional aspect.”

In accordance with the report, Zodia will steadily roll out its providers in Hong Kong, initially providing help for a restricted variety of cryptocurrency belongings. The agency is reportedly in discussions with Hong Kong’s Securities and Futures Fee and Hong Kong Financial Authority about changing into regulated within the monetary district, the report notes.

Associated: Hong Kong securities regulator updates crypto policies, citing market developments

Zodia didn’t instantly reply to Cointelegraph’s request for remark.

As beforehand reported, Standard Chartered originally announced plans to launch an institutional custodial platform for cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin (BTC) in late 2020. Launched in 2021, Zodia raised $36 million in a Series A funding round led by SBI Holdings in April 2023. The platform supports 38 cryptocurrencies, together with BTC, Ether (ETH) in addition to stablecoins like Tether (USDT) and USDC (USDC).

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