Standard Chartered takes stake in crypto market maker GSR

SC Ventures, the investment arm of the multinational bank Standard Chartered, has become the first external shareholder in crypto market maker GSR in its latest crypto-focused move.

GSR said on Monday that it had secured a strategic investment from SC Ventures, making it “the first external strategic shareholder for GSR since its founding in 2013.”

“We are excited to welcome SC Ventures as a strategic investor and partner,” said GSR CEO Xin Song, who added that the partnership brought together capital markets expertise and banking infrastructure, which would use “tokenization as a key starting point.”

Major financial institutions, including Standard Chartered, have been increasingly backing crypto companies and testing blockchain technology as a possible alternative to the current financial infrastructure, spurred on by the growing popularity of tokenized assets.

Source: Xin Song

“The next phase of the digital asset evolution will be defined by the strength of infrastructure,” said SC Ventures CEO Alex Manson, adding its investment in GSR “reinforces our focus on building institutional ecosystems that can support deeper liquidity and more resilient market activity.”

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GSR added that SC Ventures’ investment was part of a broader partnership to help traditional finance access crypto and expand tokenization access.

Last month, GSR invested in Libeara, a tokenization platform backed by SC Ventures that aims to allow financial institutions to issue tokenized assets.

GSR did not share further details about SC Ventures’ investment in the company.

Standard Chartered has also made investments in the crypto infrastructure company Ripple, while rival JPMorgan Chase created its own blockchain division and BNY Mellon offers crypto custody.

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