Standard Chartered has launched a bitcoin and ether trading service for affluent clients in the United Arab Emirates, allowing eligible investors to buy and sell the assets through existing bank accounts. The service is initially restricted to clients classified as Professional Investors and operates under licensing approval from Dubai’s Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority.
The bank will keep custody and settlement inside its own ecosystem through a closed-loop model. Clients therefore do not need separate crypto wallets or third-party trading platforms, while the service combines its wealth and retail banking operations with its corporate and investment banking business and SC Ventures-backed Zodia Markets.
Standard Chartered described the launch as its first cryptocurrency trading offering for wealth clients in any market and the first service of its kind from an international bank in the UAE. The bank said the UAE was selected because of its regulatory framework, digital-asset activity and role as one of its four global wealth hubs.
The offering follows the bank’s earlier expansion into institutional digital assets. It opened digital-asset custody for institutional clients in September 2024, began deliverable bitcoin and ether spot trading through its U. Branch in July 2025, and added institutional spot trading in the UAE through its Dubai International Financial Centre entity on Sept. That institutional business is regulated by the Dubai Financial Services Authority, while the new wealth-client service is governed through VARA.
Standard Chartered already provides eligible clients with access to cryptocurrency exchange-traded funds, structured products and over-the-counter derivatives. It said the UAE service is expected to expand to other markets, but gave no timetable for that rollout.