Zodia Custody

Crypto Custody · Digital Assets · Banking

Acquisition

Standard Chartered signs definitive deal to acquire Zodia Custody

Splitting custody from software shows banks want full control of crypto infrastructure while spinning off the riskier tech business.

• Standard Chartered signed definitive agreements to acquire 100% of Zodia Custody Limited, parent of its regulated custody entities in Singapore, Hong Kong, Australia, the UAE and Luxembourg, pending regulatory approval.
• Zodia Custody launched in 2020 as a joint venture between Standard Chartered and Northern Trust to provide institutional-grade digital asset custody.
• Zodia's software and professional services arm will be carved out into a new entity, Zodia Solutions, under SC Ventures, backed by investors including NAB Ventures, Northern Trust, SBI Ventures, Emirates NBD and Investcorp.
• Once closed, Zodia's regulated custody business will be folded into Standard Chartered's existing digital asset custody operations within its Securities Services division.
• The agreement follows shareholders' and noteholders' acceptance of Standard Chartered's non-binding offer five months earlier, and comes as the bank seeks Luxembourg MiCA authorization and plans to launch crypto custody in Singapore by year-end 2026.
• The deal shows a major bank moving from backing a crypto custody joint venture to owning it outright, treating institutional digital asset custody as core banking infrastructure rather than an experimental side bet.