Standard Chartered, the British multinational financial institution, announced that it had obtained a license to enhance its global digital asset offerings and provide cryptocurrency custody services to clients within the European Union from its base in Luxembourg.
Laurent Marochini, who previously served as the Head of Innovation at Société Générale, has been appointed as the CEO of Standard Chartered Luxembourg. Expressing his enthusiasm for this new role, He stated,
“It is an honour to join the leading international bank, Standard Chartered Luxembourg as CEO. I am fully committed to delivering excellence for our clients, team and stakeholders.”
Margaret Harwood-Jones, the global head of financing and securities services at Standard Chartered, expressed excitement about the development, emphasizing the bank’s commitment to providing institutional clients with seamless access to the digital asset ecosystem.
This move comes as the European Union implements its Markets in Crypto Assets (MiCA) regulation to standardise digital asset operations across the bloc. The landmark regulation, which came into full force on December 30, makes the EU the first major jurisdiction to establish a comprehensive regulatory framework for the crypto-assets sector.
The institution is optimistic about Bitcoin’s future, predicting that the cryptocurrency could reach $250,000 before stabilizing around $200,000. The bank provided specific conditions for this prediction, such as spot ETF inflows hitting $75 billion or reserve managers starting to acquire Bitcoin, potentially as early as 2025.
In a related development, OKX named Standard Chartered the third-party custodian for its institutional services. According to Lennix Lai, OKX’s Global Chief Commercial Officer, this collaboration aimed to enhance the exchange’s institutional services by leveraging Standard Chartered’s extensive cross-border banking capabilities.
Lai emphasized that the partnership catered to institutional investors entering the crypto market. He referenced an OKX-commissioned report by Economist Impact, highlighting a growing demand for segregation between trade execution and asset custody.
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