OKX has extended its institutional custody partnership with Standard Chartered into the European Economic Area (EEA), offering clients a regulated framework that combines bank-grade asset security with direct exchange access.
The model, already launched earlier this year in the UAE, allows institutional investors to trade on OKX while holding their digital assets under Standard Chartered’s custody. This setup mirrors long-standing practices in traditional finance, where trading and custody functions are separated, but remains relatively new in crypto.
Institutional-grade structure enters Europe
The collaboration enables institutional clients to keep their assets with Standard Chartered, one of the world’s Global Systemically Important Banks (G-SIBs), while mirroring those holdings on OKX for trading. The approach minimizes counterparty risk, ensuring that trading activity does not require funds to leave the bank’s secure custody environment.
“This expansion marks a milestone for institutional participation in digital assets,” said Erald Ghoos, CEO of OKX Europe. “It reflects both regulatory confidence in the model and Standard Chartered’s leadership as the only global systemically important bank directly collaborating with a crypto exchange.”
Bridging traditional finance and digital markets
By introducing this model across Europe, OKX and Standard Chartered aim to bridge institutional capital with digital asset liquidity, offering risk management standards familiar to traditional investors. The system integrates OKX’s MiCA regulatory compliance with Standard Chartered’s custodial oversight, providing clarity for institutions deploying capital in the region.
The initiative also underscores a broader shift among banks and exchanges toward hybrid custody-trading solutions, particularly after the collapse of FTX in 2022 exposed structural weaknesses in centralized asset management.
A new benchmark for institutional trust
For European institutions, the OKX–Standard Chartered partnership could serve as a blueprint for secure, compliant crypto market access, combining bank oversight with exchange efficiency.
As crypto markets mature under the EU’s evolving regulatory framework, this collaboration demonstrates how traditional financial institutions and crypto exchanges can align to deliver the transparency, protection, and liquidity that institutional clients demand.