Bank Goes Crypto Prime: The Grim Gamble of Global Finance

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In the smoke-black corridors of modern capitalism, a banking behemoth called Standard Chartered lifts a banner not of bread, but of danger and digits. The lure is crypto prime brokerage, a promise to leash a tempest and sell you the weather. Yet the workers of the world watch with weary eyes and a shrug that could split a railcar. 😅

Standard Chartered Plans Crypto Expansion

In the murmur of Monday, Bloomberg spoke from the machine rooms of finance: London-based Standard Chartered is girding itself to widen its crypto harvest, to seed a prime brokerage for digital assets. The face of the bank is calm, the hands are busy, and the heart-who knows?-beats to the rhythm of speculation. 🤖

According to those who breathe the same air as the suits, the talks are only at dawn, the official calendar still a flicker. Yet the plan would press its claim within SV Ventures, the venture capital arm where cold ambition wears a tailored suit.

Notably, a joint venture called Project37C-so careful with digits, so reckless with risk-was announced by the VC unit. It speaks of custody, tokenization, and market access, and says it will “complement the broader Standard Chartered digital asset ecosystem.” A phrase heavy with gloss and light on the bread, as if crumbs could feed a crowd. 😏

Harald Eltvedt, the operating member and head of venture building, is quoted as if from a sermon: “as we see institutional engagement with digital assets accelerating, there is similarly a growing need for platforms that combine innovation with a high standard.” A noble foundation, but the workers wonder: whose standard? Theirs or the bank’s? 🤔

As the report notes, this giant among banks has been among the most ardent travelers in the digital-asset desert, supporting custodians and institutions’ trading platforms. A march of promises, with the crowd cheering and the ledger creaking. In July, it stood as the first global systemically important bank to offer spot Bitcoin and Ethereum trading for institutional clients. In Q4 2025, it joined with OKX in the European Economic Area and partnered with DCS Card Center to forge a card that lets customers mint stablecoins. The theater grows, and the audience pays. 💳

Last month, a renewed partnership with Coinbase to craft a suite of crypto prime services-trading, staking, custody, lending-was announced. The show continues, and the street whispers, “will they save us or swallow us?” 😅

Global Banking Rules’ Challenge

Bloomberg’s note hints that SC Ventures might be the leverage point to sidestep some stiff capital requirements for those cryptic assets in corporate and investment banks. A clever alley-way, perhaps, but every alley has a dead-end sign behind it. 🕳️

The Basel Committee on Banking Supervision released in 2022 a standard for the “prudential treatment of banks’ exposures to cryptoassets,” including tokenized assets, stablecoins, and unbacked digits. Basel III insists: crypto holdings attract a risk charge far heavier than most others-1,250% for permissionless assets like Bitcoin and Ether. VC bets, however, may linger at a gentler 400%. The city breathes the math, and the math yawns back. 📈

Bitcoinist notes that global regulators are to debate revisions to these rules, with the force of law set to arrive in 2026. Senior officials say banks have largely interpreted the standards as a caution signal to avoid crypto, for the capital burden is heavy as a hammer on the thumb. 🔨

Yet the fever of the crypto world has stirred debates within the BCBS. The environment has changed, the weather shifts, but many jurisdictions-US and UK foremost among them-drag their feet, not ready to sign the document into the wind yet. The race is on, and the clock mocks them. 🕰️

The United States, it is said, leads a chorus to amend the standards, arguing they do not fit the evolution of the industry, especially in stablecoins. Some nations nod in agreement and push for a thoughtful review before full adoption. A chorus of voices, and none of them certain. 🗣️

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2026-01-13 07:15