21Shares taps Standard Chartered for custody as TradFi tightens grip on crypto
Standard Chartered will provide digital asset custody for 21Shares, signaling deeper TradFi expansion into crypto and raising questions about Zodia Custody’s future role.
Major bank Standard Chartered announced fund manager 21Shares has selected it as its digital asset custodian, potentially moving away from a crypto-native partner.
According to a Monday announcement from Standard Chartered shared with Cointelegraph, the bank will provide crypto custody services to 21Shares, which offers multiple exchange-traded crypto products. Margaret Harwood-Jones, the bank’s global head of financing and securities services, said the collaboration allows them to “to extend our expertise into the fast-evolving digital asset ecosystem.”
However, 21Shares already had a crypto-native custody partner. In late June 2024, the fund manager partnered with crypto-native custodian Zodia Custody to hold its assets. Zodia Custody was co-founded by Standard Chartered in 2020 and operated as a wholly owned subsidiary, indicating that the bank wanted to avoid direct involvement in crypto at the time.
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