The Hong Kong Monetary Authority has granted HSBC and Standard Chartered Group the first licenses under the territory’s Stablecoins Ordinance, which took effect in August 2025. The approvals mark a regulatory milestone that could accelerate bank-led stablecoin activity in the region.
Bloomberg reports Standard Chartered is weighing a takeover of crypto custodian Zodia, with sources saying a deal could be announced as early as this month; the bank declined to comment.
Standard Chartered said Monday that Ole Matthiessen will join the bank as global head of transaction services and digital assets in its corporate and investment banking division, signaling a stepped-up institutional focus on crypto and tokenized services.
Hong Kong has published its first list of applicants shortlisted for stablecoin licences, with HSBC, Anchorpoint (a Standard Chartered–backed JV) and OSL Group reportedly among the three names. The move signals regulatory progress toward licensed onshore stablecoin issuance.
Standard Chartered sharply cut its price forecasts, warning bitcoin could slide toward $50,000 and ether to about $1,400 in the coming months before recovering. The bank said the revisions reflect mounting stress across digital assets even as it retains a constructive long-term view.
Standard Chartered has partnered with liquidity provider B2C2 to link its global banking infrastructure with deep digital-asset liquidity, expanding regulated institutional access to bitcoin and ethereum markets worldwide.
Standard Chartered has partnered with B2C2 to provide institutional bitcoin trading services, aiming to bridge traditional banking and crypto markets. The deal highlights growing demand from banks for regulated digital-asset capabilities.
Standard Chartered says stablecoin-driven digital asset adoption is creating a $500 billion headwind for U.S. banks and could trigger bank-run‑like deposit outflows if the trend continues. The analyst flagged faster liquidity migration off bank balance sheets as a key risk.
Standard Chartered projects Ethereum may climb to $40,000 by 2030, citing macroeconomic relief and an improving market structure; the call contrasts with ETH’s current recovery-phase price action.
Standard Chartered is preparing to offer a crypto prime brokerage aimed at institutional clients, leveraging its roughly $850 billion in assets. The move underscores growing bank-led infrastructure for institutional crypto access.