Standard Chartered has been appointed as the digital asset custodian for LMAX Group. The partnership marks the onboarding of the first client on Standard Chartered Luxembourg’s digital asset custody platform following the bank’s authorisation under the Markets in Crypto-Assets regulation in June this year.
The appointment also includes Standard Chartered’s branch in Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC), which is regulated under the Dubai Financial Services Authority (DFSA).
Standard Chartered will be providing digital asset custody services to support the expansion of LMAX Group’s institutional digital asset business. The dual appointments in Dubai and Luxembourg aim to give LMAX Group access to regulated custody solutions in two key financial centres.
David Mercer, CEO of LMAX Group describes the new partnership as “a natural next step” after a successful collaboration between the two firms in July this year when they executed the industry’s first live digital asset prime brokerage trades. The transactions were achieved by combining Standard Chartered’s banking, credit, and custody capabilities with LMAX Group’s regulated, institutional-grade digital asset market infrastructure.
The two firms will continue to jointly explore “off-exchange custody solutions designed to combine the safety of bank-grade custody with seamless access to institutional digital asset liquidity”. The goal is to give market participants access to trading opportunities while the custody of their assets remain with a trusted and regulated financial institution, thus supporting the next phase of institutional adoption.