Standard Chartered launches spot Bitcoin and Ether trading in UAE

London-headquartered multinational bank Standard Chartered has launched spot Bitcoin and Ether trading for institutional clients in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), through its entity regulated by the Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC).

The move makes Standard Chartered the first global bank to offer institutional digital asset trading in the region and the first Global Systemically Important Bank (G-SIB) with a similar offering, the bank said in a Thursday announcement shared with Cointelegraph.

Eligible institutional clients will be able to access spot Bitcoin (BTC) and Ether (ETH) trading through Standard Chartered’s electronic trading channels integrated into the bank’s existing platforms.

The move expands Standard Chartered’s regulated crypto asset offering in the region. The bank previously launched digital asset custody services in the UAE in September 2024.

In June, Standard Chartered entered a banking agreement with CoinMENA, enabling the crypto exchange to use the bank to support fiat on- and off-ramps, client money accounts and virtual account-based transaction management.

Other cryptocurrency companies and trading platforms are also seeking regulatory approval to launch digital asset offerings in the UAE. In August, trading platform Capital.com revealed plans to offer spot crypto services to clients in the UAE and secured a virtual-asset license from the country’s Capital Market Authority (CMA).

Earlier in July, neobank Revolut received in-principle approval from Dubai’s Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority to offer crypto-related services in the region.

Related: Standard Chartered wavers on $100K Bitcoin year-end call, says it may be ‘too low’