Key Highlights
- Standard Chartered will custody 21Shares’ digital assets via its regulated Luxembourg platform.
- Deal comes as 21Shares expands its ETP lineup on Nasdaq Stockholm.
- Standard Chartered continues its crypto push after supporting the DeCard stablecoin card.
Standard Chartered has been appointed as the new digital-asset custodian for 21Shares, a major provider of regulated crypto ETPs. The move brings a global bank directly into the core infrastructure of 21Shares’ institutional services, giving the ETP provider a regulated custody hub in Luxembourg under the oversight of the CSSF.
21Shares, known for launching the first physically backed crypto ETP, now offers one of the broadest regulated crypto product suites globally.
The Standard Chartered deal strengthens the institutional framework around that expansion by tying its products to a custody partner with a long track record in cross-border banking and risk management.
Under the new arrangement, 21Shares will plug into Standard Chartered’s digital-asset custody service in Luxembourg. The bank will handle the secure storage of assets behind 21Shares’ ETPs and provide a compliance-ready environment for institutional clients that require strong governance, operational controls, and regulatory clarity before allocating to crypto.
Standard Chartered said the move reflects growing demand from institutions seeking regulated access to digital assets. For 21Shares, it reinforces the institutional credibility of its products as European regulators continue to prioritize secure custody and clearer risk controls.
Recent moves from Standard Chartered
The bank has accelerated its presence across digital-asset financial services this month. On November 11, it partnered with Singapore’s DCS Card Centre to support DeCard, a credit card that lets users spend stablecoins in everyday life. Standard Chartered manages treasury, liquidity, and risk for the system and handles both fiat and stablecoin settlement.
The launch is part of a broader initiative to connect traditional payments infrastructure with token-based financial services.
What comes next
Neither firm said whether the custody deal will extend to other regions. For now, 21Shares is continuing its European ETP expansion and adding partners across trading and liquidity platforms. Standard Chartered is increasingly positioning itself as a banking partner for stablecoins, tokenized assets, and digital-asset settlement systems.
As institutional participation grows and crypto ETPs gain wider acceptance, the tie-up between a major global bank and one of the largest crypto ETP issuers signals a deeper integration between traditional finance and on-chain markets.
Also read: Safello Debuts World’s First Staked TAO ETP in Switzerland
